Accidents and Unforeseen Consequences
by Sharkdiver1980
Summary: When Harry attempts to intervene due to Hermione's habitual time turner use, the proverbial shit hits the fan when they are accidentally sent back to 1943. - Hermione G/Tom Riddle
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: I love writing humorous Tomione fics, so here is another one! so far, I actually have 8 or 9 chapters written, so I'll be updating this regularly until it's completed - Please take a moment to leave me a review!**

 **Chapter 1 – The Incident**

"Give it here, Harry!" Hermione shouted as Harry held up the time turner just out of her grasp.

"Hermione, you've been using this thing way too much. You look like shit; when was the last time you slept?" Harry scolded her

"That's none of your concern! I'll be late for my History of Magic Class if you don't give it to me right now!" She shouted as she jumped to try and grab it out of his hands. As she jumped trying to reach it, her fingers accidentally grazed the rings of the time turner, spinning them. Harry and Hermione both froze and looked at each other in horror, clasping their hands as they were hurtled violently back in time.

They landed on the floor with a thud, her head landing on his stomach.

"Dammit, Hermione! Look what you did!" Harry yelled, knowing as well as she that time turners could only take you backwards, not forwards in time.

"It's not my fault, you prat! If you hadn't taken it from me this never would have happened!" she screeched.

"Wait a minute…When are we?" He asked, suddenly aware that they would need to figure out what happened and either hide or think of a clever cover story fast.

Hermione took the time turner from his hands, gently this time, and noticed with a mounting sense of horror that when her hand had bumped the time turner, not only did it hit the rings to turn them, it also nudged the setting from "hours" to "decades".

" _Fuck_!" Hermione said covering her mouth with her hand

Harry looked at her shocked, never having heard her use language like that before, "What?" he said slowly, not wanting to hear her answer.

"This is bad…" she seemed to be muttering to herself.

"Just tell me! What is it?" Harry yelled again and grabbed her by the shoulders forcing her to look at him.

Before she could answer him, she saw an issue of the Daily Prophet discarded haphazardly on the common room floor. She wrenched free from his grasp, and ran over to it, wanting to confirm what she had already suspected.

She sucked in another horrified breath and held the paper out to Harry.

"The date, Harry… _Look at the date_." She said, tears already beginning to well in her eyes.

Harry grabbed the paper from her hands, and paled when he read the date. A look of rage crossed his face for a brief moment before he fought it under control, trusting himself to speak.

"Really Hermione? 1943?! What the Fuck are we supposed to do now?! How the hell are we going to get back?" He yelled, his voice getting more high pitched as he went.

"Harry, I'm sorry, it was an accident! There has to be a way for us to get back. Even if I have to break into the Department of _Bloody_ Mysteries, I'll get us back home, I swear it." She said, wanting to make this right. He was literally her only friend, and if he couldn't forgive her, she didn't know what she would do.

Harry seemed to calm at her words, he took a deep breath, and reached out to touch her shoulder, "It was just as much my fault as yours. We're stuck here for the time being, and it's not going to get us anywhere arguing about it, so lets just put it in the past and move on." Harry said tiredly.

Hermione just looked at him, then burst out laughing, "Put it in the past? HA!" she was borderline hysterical with tears rolling down her cheeks. Harry laughed too, despite himself, and after a few minutes, she finally regained control.

"Okay, so we're at Hogwarts, still in the Gryffindor common room, and it's…" Harry looked at the magical clock on the mantle above the hearth, "It's 1:30 in the morning…everyone is asleep. We don't exactly belong here, so let's go to the room of requirement, so we can figure out what we are going to do." Harry said thoughtfully. Hermione shook her head and agreed. Thankfully, Harry at least did have the Marauder's map in his back pocket, but other than that and the time turner, which was pretty well useless to them now, they only had the clothes on their back, and their wands.

Thankfully, with the use of the map, they were easily able to get to the room of requirement without being seen. As they stood in front of the large wall where the door would be, Hermione paced back and forth in front of it, imaging a small studio style suite with two twin beds and a loo. This would have to do until they could figure out what to do.

Harry walked in first, and once Hermione entered, he locked and warded the door out of habit behind them. He dropped down onto the couch, and rubbed a hand over his tired face.

"Now, what do you propose we do?" he asked, since she was usually the one to come up with all the brilliant plans.

"Well, we can't use our real names…well, surnames at least, since people will recognize them in the future. Also, Hogwart's is the safest place to be, considering Grindelwald was just recently defeated, and there is still quite a bit of unrest in the wizarding community. We have no money of course, since our Gringott's accounts haven't been set up yet…" Hermione mused.

"What about Dumbledore?" Harry asked, knowing they would need an ally.

"We can't tell him anything", Hermione protested, "though I admit, he may be the answer to helping us enroll into Hogwart's; maybe he can also give us some side duties so that we can earn some money too."

"What if we allow him to see one simple memory, that gives nothing away, other than that he does know us in the future, and that he trusts us. Maybe that would be enough to convince him to help us. We are just kids after all, I mean, do you think if we told him what happened he would just kick us out?"

"That may be best", She agreed. "I know you are not supposed to be seen when time travelling, but I think that rule is more applicable to when you travel back within your own timeline, so as to avoid running into your other self; here, we haven't even been born yet, so there is no chance of that…and hopefully, I can find a way to get us home long before we will have to worry about that." She reasoned.

"Okay, we should go see the Professor Dumbledore now then, he'll probably be more willing to help us if he knew we came to him straightaway rather than dithering about the castle." Harry said.

"Alright" she agreed, "But, Harry, remember, Professor Dumbledore isn't the headmaster yet. He's the deputy Headmaster, and the transfiguration professor." Hermione reminded him.

"Good thinking, Hermione, His office is probably where Professor McGonagall's office is in our time." Harry said pulling out the map once again. Sure enough, they saw a dot on the map with the name "Albus Dumbledore" hovering next to it. Apparently, he was pacing in his office.

Harry quickly led her out of the room of requirement, and down to Professor Dumbledore's office. Once they reached his door, Hermione hesitantly raised her hand to knock, and Harry sighed and pushed her aside and knocked forcefully. Hermione shot him a glare, but let it be.

The door swung open, and Harry found himself nose to wand with a much younger version of Professor Dumbledore. His hair was not the long white they had known, but rather a rich auburn. He had noticeably less wrinkles, though he still did wear his half-moon spectacles. The twinkle in his blue eyes, Hermione noticed to her dismay, was visibly absent.

Harry and Hermine both held up their hands in supplication, with Harry speaking up first, "Professor Dumbledore. It is very important that we speak with you straightaway. We need your help!" Harry pleaded, hoping to play on the older man's sympathies.

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" Professor Dumbledore said evenly, as he stared unblinkingly at Harry and Hermione, with his wand still raised.

"You see, Professor, it was my fault…"Hermione started to say

"We had an accident", Harry interrupted before she could say too much in the hall. "Please professor, we will tell you everything you need to know, but this conversation is best held in private." Harry said his gaze moving down the hall, falling on some of the nearby portraits, whose inhabitants were leaning in closely trying to hear what they were saying.

Professor Dumbledore, after a moment, opened his office door and nodded for them to enter, though he kept his wand trained on them.

Once inside the office with the door warded, Professor Dumbledore looked at them expectantly. They were clearly children, probably no more than 6th years, but he did not recognize them as Hogwart's students, which was what concerned him the most…how had they gotten past the castle's wards? In the middle of the night no less?

"Start talking" Dumbledore said, still holding the wand towards them.

"You see professor, we…that is to say… _I_ …wanted to take as many classes as I could, you see…" Hermione began to ramble nervously

Professor Dumbledore just stared at her in confusion, until Harry interrupted her rambling once again.

"Professor, we are student's at Hogwart's…just…not from this time." Harry said, hoping he would understand.

Professor Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock, as he realized that the two standing in front of him were time travelers. It made sense now that they wouldn't have triggered the castle's wards since they were in fact students, but the questions remained; how had they come back, and from when…

Hermione took the opportunity to cut in again, "As I was saying professor, I was using a time turner to take extra classes you see…don't look at me like that, I was given permission by my head of house. Everything was going swimmingly until Harry and I got into an argument about it. Well, he grabbed the time turner from me, and in our scuffle over it, well…we accidentally triggered the time turner…" she trailed off.

Professor Dumbledore could see that they were telling the truth, the girl looked like she was about to be sick on his shoes. Still, he would require proof before agreeing to help them.

"And do you still have this time turner Miss…?" Professor Dumbledore asked

"Oh yes! And it's Miss…wait. I'm not going to give you my real last name…that could be detrimental to our future you see…my first name is Hermione though, and this is Harry." Hermione pulled the time turner out from her robes and handed it very carefully to Professor Dumbledore.

"Extraordinary" he breathed as he looked at the chain holding the small hourglass surrounded by multiple golden rings.

"Professor, I know this is a lot to take in, but we really do need your help. We don't, as of right now, have any way of returning to our own time, and…we were hoping that we could continue our education here while we try and find a solution." Harry asked hopefully.

"Mr…Harry. I appreciate your situation, however, you must understand, these have been dark times. I have many enemies, and I can't be too careful. I trust that you will understand that I require more than just your word, and a time turner to trust you. You have two options; either allow me to view a memory in my pensieve that you feel wouldn't jeopardize the timeline, or I will be forced to enter your mind myself." He said forcefully.

Harry chose an innocuous memory of himself with Professor Dumbledore talking in the Gryffindor boy's dormitories at the end of his fourth year, when Professor Dumbledore told him about how he had set the bed curtains on fire when he was a student.

He stood back with Hermione, while the professor plunged his face into the pensieve to view the memory.

"Harry, you didn't show him anything that would give him knowledge of the future, did you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"No, Just a memory of him telling me about something he himself did in his youth. It would show him that not only were we telling the truth about us being students here at Hogwart's, but also that he trusted me." Harry said confidently.

They watched as the professor stood and made his way behind his desk, looking just a tad older than he had been only moments ago.

"I believe you are telling the truth" he finally said, "But I must ask you one last question" he said holding up a hand to them. "What year did you come from?" He asked.

Hermione cleared her throat, "1997, Professor." She said and looked down at the floor, guilt written across her face.

"So let me make sure I am fully understanding this; you both are students of Hogwart's in the year 1997…and you accidentally sent yourself _fifty-four years_ into the past using this time turner." He asked for confirmation.

Both Harry and Hermione averted their gaze and nodded quietly.

"Merlin's beard." Was all Dumbledore managed to say, as he rubbed a hand tiredly over his face.

"You must tell no one else of this, you understand?" he asked, and once again they nodded.

"I shall have to have a word with Headmaster Dippet. You will be registered as transfer students. You are starting your sixth year, correct? You will continue from there, naturally. You will of course have to be re-sorted."

Harry looked terrified for a moment at the thought that he might end up separated from Hermione if they were sorted into different houses, but also more horrifying to think that he might not be placed in Gryffindor.

"I trust that you can come up with a convincing enough background story?" He asked them.

"Yes Professor. If it is alright, can we stay in the room of requirement for tonight? It would look too suspicious if we were to be brought into any of the dormitories at this late hour. We should be able to have a convincing enough story by morning." Hermione offered.

"I think that would be best." Professor Dumbledore agreed.

A short while later, Professor Dumbledore had escorted them to the room of requirement, and bid them good evening. He had told them to be in his office at 7am sharp, before the students would be heading down to breakfast.

Once the door was firmly closed and warded behind them, Harry breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Professor Dumbledore was on their side.

"We need to think of a cover story. First we'll need names." Hermione said thoughtfully, "Any ideas?"

Harry thought about it, and offered, "Topper. Harry Topper."

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him, "And what shall I call myself? Hermione Grengar? That is horrid. And so obvious."

"How about Harry and Hermione Jones…average, boring, and wholly uninteresting. Obviously, we will need to claim to be muggleborn siblings, since any other status would come with a recognizable family name. We can even use Grindelwald as an excuse as to why our parent's decided to have us homeschooled with a witch governess until now. We can say our governess was Eunice Murray! She was a seeker for the Montrose Magpies, who had famously petitioned for there to be a faster snitch, because the current snitches were just too easy to catch! That would easily explain why you are so good at quidditch, especially being a seeker. We can say that she was a friend of our mother's family. Also, it helps that Poor old Eunice passed away last year…no one would be the wiser!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Hermione, you're brilliant!" Harry said before yawning.

"I suppose we should get some sleep. Tomorrow will very likely be a long day" Hermione said, and flopped back onto her twin bed.

Harry nodded, and crawled into his own bed, "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Harry." Hermione replied before letting sleep take her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hi all! I haven't had any reviews yet for this story, so I have no idea if you all like it or not...so if you are reading it, and you like it, please take a moment to let me know! I sincerely appreciate it!** **Oh, and as far as a plot point in this story, Tom does play quidditch. Even though that's not exactly canon, I figure he wants to be the best at everything, so why not make him a quidditch captain all star chaser in addition to being a Dark Lord. Why not, right?**

 **Chapter 2 – Welcome to Hogwart's! Again!**

Hermione blinked sleepily, and the memories of the night before hit her, and she jolted out of bed. Harry was still asleep, snoring softly.

"Harry! Harry, wake up! It's almost time to meet Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione shook him

When he didn't make any effort to open his eyes, and instead snorted and rolled away from her, she grabbed the comforter and pulled it off of him.

"Wake Up! _Oh_ …" Hermione blushed furiously, realizing Harry was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs which, unfortunately, left little to the imagination.

"Hermione!" He screeched and grabbed the blanket and pulled it back over him, belatedly; she had already seen everything anyway.

"Oh God, I'm sorry! I didn't need to see that!" She laughed, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm up now." He said pinching the bridge of his nose.

Hermione turned around to give him some privacy, and asked the room to supply them with some tea and scones before their meeting with Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet.

Once Harry was dressed, he made his way over to the small table and took a seat across from her.

"Right, so we are the Jones's. You're my sister, we are mugglesborns who were homeschooled by Eunice Murray. She also taught me how to play quidditch. She died last year, and with the defeat of Grindelwald, our parents thought it best to ship is off to Hogwarts to formally finish our education." Harry summarized their cover story.

"Exactly." Hermione agreed. "Now remember, when Headmaster Dippet sorts us, you absolutely cannot be surprised by whatever happens…we have to make him believe that we have never been here, and we don't know any better. Natually, we wouldn't have any bias towards any of the houses. If you end up in Slytherin, you will smile, and seem happy about it." Hermione said pointing at his chest, making sure to drive her point home. "If we don't pull this off flawlessly, it will blow up in our faces. I am talking Oscar worthy performance…that's what we need to do."

Hermione picked up her tea, and looked at him, thinking for a moment, that something looked… _different_. Suddenly, she dropped her tea cup, and it shattered on the floor, and she gasped before she could stop herself.

"Harry! Your scar! It's… _gone_!" She said pointing at his forehead.

Harry stood quickly, and strode across the room to the large floor length mirror. He brushed his messy black hair away from his face, and just as she had said, his forehead was smooth, and completely unmarked. What could this mean?

"Hermione, what do you think this means?" Harry asked, not daring to hope it meant what he thought it meant.

"I'm not sure Harry, but if I had to guess, it's say that it's gone because Voldemort hasn't tried to kill you yet…"

Her word hit him like the bolt of lightening that has scar had been…if that was true, that meant…

"Then he hasn't killed my parents either…" Harry breathed, a look of hope daring to cross his face.

Hermione felt a spark of hope flare within her chest, and she heard Professor Dumbledore's words from the future/past echo in her mind, _'Before this night is over, more than one innocent life shall be spared.'_

"Harry, this may have been an accident, but this is our chance…we have the power to change it all!" she said excitedly

Harry looked at the clock and saw that they needed to start heading down to Professor Dumbledore's office. "No time like the present" he said, chuckling at his second bad pun in two days.

When they reached Professor Dumbledore's office, the door opened quickly and they were ushered inside.

"I trust you slept well?" the professor asked them

"Yes professor, the room of requirement was most hospitable." Hermione told him.

"And I trust you have come up with a passable explanation as to your… _situation_?" The professor asked again.

"Indeed we have, Professor. The _official_ story, is that we are brother and sister, Harry and Hermione Jones. We are from a muggleborn family, who due to fear of Grindelwald's reign of terror, were kept at home to be homeschooled by our witch governess, Eunice Murray – yes, _that_ Eunice Murray – who was a good friend of our mother's family. She taught us everything we'd need through fifth year, and also taught Harry to play quidditch. He's quite good actually…he ought to try out. Sadly, she passed away last year, and what with your brilliant defeat of Grindelwald over the recent months, our parents have agreed it would now be safe for us to formally finish our education at Hogwarts." Hermione explained, as she folded her hands in her lap.

Professor Dumbledore looked suitably impressed. "That will do, Miss Jones." He told her, and Hermione was pleased to see a twinkle in his blue eyes as he looked at them both appraisingly over his half-moon spectacles.

"Now, I shall escort you to the Headmaster's office. I will explain your story to him – the _official story_ , not the real one you understand, and then I will personally take care of the paperwork myself to ensure there are no questions. As I told you last night, you will have to be sorted into your houses, since _officially_ , you have never been sorted before. Are you ready?" Professor Dumbledore asked them

Hermione took a deep breath and stood up. "Let's get this over with" she said, pulling Harry up from his seat.

Twenty minutes later, Harry and Hermione found themselves bored to tears in Headmaster Dippet's office. The Headmaster had been babbling on about Eunice Murray for the last fifteen minutes, suitably impressed that she had been their governess. Professor Dumbledore provided all of the reassurances to the headmaster where needed, and assured him he would take care of the registration paperwork so that he may focus on his many other duties. Finally, it was time to be sorted.

The headmaster picked up the dingy looking hat from one of the shelves, and carried it reverently over towards Harry. He placed the hat delicately on Harry's head, and suddenly the familiar voice of the Sorting Hat was whispering in his ear

" _Hmm, difficult. VERY difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"_

Remembering what Hermione had said earlier that morning about not reacting to the sorting hat, Harry waited patiently for the hat to make the decision.

" _You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that….SLYTHERIN!"_

Harry kept the smile plastered on his face, not betraying the distress he felt at being placed in the house of his enemies. Hermione kept her features in check, and didn't show a hint of shock of what had just happened.

The headmaster then took the Sorting Hat from Harry's head, and placed it on Hermione's head

" _Yes, curious and intelligent I see, and clever too, lots of courage to be sure, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor would encourage all that, but there is a desire for knowledge and recognition…better be SLYTRHERIN!"_

Hermione was just as shocked as Harry had been, but continued to keep her emotions in check. She plastered a fake smile on her face, just as Harry had done. She did feel a little relief, to be honest, at the fact that at least they wouldn't be separated. If she was going to be stuck in Slytherin, at least Harry would be in hell with her.

"Excellent! I'm sure you'll be a credit to such a distinguished house. Now that that is taken care of, I'll have one of the Slytherin prefects escort you to the Slytherin Dormitories so that may get settled. Welcome to Hogwart's!" the Headmaster said, as he gave Harry a firm pat on the back.

Harry made eye contact with professor Dumbledore, who had the gall to wink! He knew Harry was truly a Gryffindor, and probably more than a little unsettled by the change, but apparently, he thought it was amusing.

A few moments later, the office door opened, and in stepped a boy, who appeared to be the same age as Harry and Hermione. He had dark hair and eyes and a prefect badge on his school uniform, and Hermione immediately felt her stomach do a little backflip at how handsome he was. Viktor Krum had nothing on this boy. He walked across the office floor, and took Hermione's hand in his and kissed the back of her hand; Hermione practically swooned.

"So pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Jones, I'm Tom, the Slytherin sixth year prefect. The headmaster has asked me to escort you and your brother to the Slytherin dormitories." Hermione couldn't control the blush or the grin the spread across her face at his chivalry, and the thought crossed her mind that it was such a shame that this tradition failed to be passed down to the boys of her time. She turned to Harry, and noticed he had visibly paled, and was staring at the object of Hermione's current infatuation.

"Are you quite alright, Mr. Jones?" Tom had asked Harry, extending his hand in greeting.

Harry mentally shook himself. He couldn't make any mistakes, "Sorry, Tom is it? I'm fine. Long night is all." And he forced himself to grasp the boy's outstretched hand in a stiff handshake.

Hermione threw a look of confusion at Harry, before he was able to mouth ' _later'_ to her.

"Yes well, the castle can be a bit overwhelming when you aren't used to it, perhaps once you're settled you should have some chocolate. I find it helps." Tom said politely. "Follow me please"

He flashed a grin, full of perfectly straight white teeth at Hermione before heading out the door. Hermione grabbed Harry and pulled him along behind her and whispered to him, "Get a grip!" before forcing the pleasant smile back on her face.

The Slytherin common room was exactly as Harry had remembered it from his second year when he and Ron snuck in using polyjuice while impersonating Crabbe and Goyle to interrogate Malfoy. The common room boasted very gothic cathedral ceilings, stained glass windows, sconces burning along the walls, and a few Victorian style couches upholstered in black leather. It was the very opposite of the well-worn and cozy décor of the Gryffindor common room. This room was the very definition of pretentious. After Tom showed Harry to the boy's dormitory, he introduced Hermione to Dorea Rosier, a fellow sixth year Slytherin, and asked her to show Hermione to the girl's dormitories so that she could get settled. She still couldn't fathom what Harry's issue was, but she chose a bed by the window, and found that a trunk had been placed there for her with all of her books and school uniforms, most likely sent by Professor Dumbledore. Hermione quickly changed into her new uniform, which was a little bit more modest than the school uniforms she had been accustomed to wearing in her time. The skirt was a matronly knee length, and they were required to wear tights. It wasn't proper to have any bare skin showing. Luckily, when they had arrived, they were wearing muggle clothes, that weren't all that dissimilar to the muggle clothes of the Fourties…at least, she hadn't thought they were different _enough_ for anyone to notice.

Hermione met Harry back in the common room, and whispered, "What's got into you?"

Harry looked at her completely gobsmacked, and then realized that she _didn't know_ …how could she have known? She hadn't gone down into the chamber of secrets with him to save Ginny, nor had she ever been privy to the memories Dumbledore had kept in his pensieve…

"Hermione, Tom is…" Harry was trying to figure out the best way to put it.

"Spit it out, Harry, what about Tom?" She whispered in annoyance, thinking Harry was being over protective, especially since it was pretty obvious that she found Tom attractive.

"Hermione, He's _Fucking Voldemort_!" Harry said in frustration

A look of horror crossed Hermione's face just then and she managed to say, "You mean…He…and _Voldemort_ …" Hermione was growing more horrified at the visual scenario playing through her mind

"Are one in the same, _yes_." Harry finished

Hermione clutched her hand to her chest and blew out a relieved breath, "Oh thank goodness, that is what you meant." She said

Harry looked confused, "Hermione, how can you be relieved? I have to share a dorm room with the _fucking dark lord_ , in case that had escaped your notice." Harry whispered incredulously.

Hermione laughed, "NO, no…when you said that he was _fucking_ Voldemort, I thought you meant…" Hermione cut off as Harry's eyes widened in understanding.

Despite himself, Harry chuckled at her misunderstanding but then ran a hand through his messy hair, "Hermione, how am I supposed to keep this up? All I want to do is kill the bloody git and be done with it. Instead, I have to pretend I don't know who he is, or what he is capable of, and Godric help me, I have to allow myself to actually let me guard down enough to _sleep_ in his presence. This is too much."

"Harry, remember what we talked about earlier…he hasn't done any of those things yet. You told me once that Dumbledore told you that he suspected that the two of you actually had a lot in common; you had wondered why you turned out good and well… _normal_ , when he went as far in the other direction as you can get. Dumbledore told you that it was because you had experienced love, and friendship, and that he never had. Harry, we could change all of that. Maybe he'll never turn into the monster we know he could become.

Was she really asking him to be his fucking _friend_?

Harry looked at her thoughtfully. She was right. He was harboring prejudices against him for crimes he had not yet committed. His scar had disappeared. He was no longer the chosen one, because the prophecy had never been made. Clean slate.

"You're right, Hermione…I honestly don't think I can get past what I know to truly be his friend…at least not now, but I will try to be more…open minded." He said grudgingly.

Hermione smiled at Harry, just as the object of their conversation walked over to them.

"Harry, Hermione, how are you settling in?" Tom asked politely.

"Fine thanks," Harry said, forcing a small smile to his face.

"You're looking better, I see." Tom observed.

Harry held up a small bar of chocolate and Tom nodded.

"Hermione, would you care to accompany me to Breakfast?" he held out his arm towards her, and she deliberately gave Harry a pointed look, and took his arm. She felt a little more conflicted about it now, knowing that he was essentially a teenage Voldemort, but when he flashed her that smile, and saw the pink tinge to his cheeks, she threw caution to the wind and strolled out of the common room on his arm. And she _definitely_ didn't take any pleasure in the fact that the other Slytherin girls were shooting death glares in her direction. _None at all_.

Harry sighed and followed them out, down to the great hall. He noticed a lot of the heads turn when Tom walked in with Hermione on his arm, and watched as people began to whisper furiously trying to get a good look at the school's newest transfer students.

"Have you been given your class schedules yet?" Tom asked Hermione while holding out her chair for her to sit next to him at the Slytherin table.

Hermione blushed at his act of chivalry once again, and nervously brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, actually, there was a course schedule in my trunk along with all of my books. I'll be taking potions first, then Transfiguration, Charms, Defense against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies."

Tom's posture went rigid at Hermione's mention of Muggle studies, and Hermione noticed. Ever since Harry had told her who he was, she was watching him very closely. She wanted to get to know him, and understand him. It was at this moment, that Hermione, ever the champion of ill represented causes, decided that today would mark the start of Operation _Volde-No-More_. He was broken, and she was going to fix him, and that was that.

"It seems we will be having quite a few classes together. I am in all of those same classes, except for Muggle studies. I have History of Magic at that time." Tom told her.

She was pretty certain she knew _why_ he wasn't taking Muggle studies, but to his credit, History of Magic was a _really_ interesting class…if she could only get that time turner back from Dumbledore… _NO._ That stupid time turner got her into this mess.

"I'm surprised that you've decided to take Muggle studies, especially being a Slytherin." He said smoothly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye while he buttered his toast.

"Oh? Why is that, Tom? I am a Muggleborn after all." She replied smoothly, wanting to gauge his reaction to her revelation. It wasn't a lie after all, and she knew she was playing with fire, but she felt like the best way to handle this particular bull was by the horns…

Tom stilled his movement, toast halfway to his mouth, and then regained control of himself before trying to once again to seem unaffected. "How interesting." was all he said before taking a bite of his toast.

Hermione wasn't going to let him off the hook so easy…it was most assuredly a very uncomfortable conversation for him to be having, especially in public, but she thought it best to see what happened if she stood her ground.

"How so? Is there some reason _why_ Muggleborn's should be kept from Slytherin house?" She pushed back.

"Hermione, I wouldn't expect you to know the history of the Hogwart's founders, such that you're new to the school, but it is pretty common knowledge among witches and wizards that Salazar Slytherin wasn't a fan of Mud… _Muggleborns_. He quite clearly made his preference known that only purebloods should be allowed entry into Hogwart's to complete their magical education. Slytherin house is quite literally his tribute. There haven't been any muggleborns in Slytherin house…well… _ever_."

Hermione was speechless. She of course knew all about the Hogwart's founders, as well as Slytherin's disgusting views on blood purity, however, she had most emphatically not known that up to that point, there had never been a muggle born sorted into Slytherin. Since both Tom and Harry were half-bloods, despite the fact that Harry was only pretending to be a muggleborn, she actually _was_ a muggleborn…She made a mental note to sneak into the headmaster's office and have a little _chat_ with the sorting hat.

"That is interesting. So my brother and I are the first." Hermione said, and she actually smiled.

Tom looked at her incredulously, "How can you think that this is a good thing? Surely you realize that a number of your housemates would view this as a blemish on our noble house's reputation? There are many who may feel it is their duty to… _do something_ about it." Tom replied stiffly.

Hermione turned to him then, and flashed her most charming smile, placed her hand on his arm and leaned towards him to say, "Well, in that case, I am so glad that someone as open-minded and caring, such as yourself, has been chosen as our prefect. Just knowing that you'll be watching out for me makes me feel much safer, Tom." She gushed.

She could tell by the blush rising to his cheeks that he had taken the bait. Apparently, flattery got you everywhere with the dark lord.

She turned in her seat, once again focusing on her breakfast, when she heard Tom address Harry.

"So, Harry, I hear you have been introduced to Quidditch. Do you plan on trying out for the Slytherin team?" Tom asked

Harry turned towards Tom, shooting a look at Hermione that told her he'd rather be doing anything than sitting here chatting with Tom _fucking_ Riddle, "Yes actually, I heard that you're looking for a Seeker. You're a chaser, aren't you?" Harry asked, doing his best to be polite.

"Yes, I'm the team captain, actually. We're holding try outs tomorrow afternoon on the pitch. You should come down, if you think you're up to it." Tom added as a silent challenge.

"Wouldn't miss it." Harry said, not willing to back down from Tom's challenging glare.

Hermione, sensing the tension, looked at her watch, "Look at the time! Tom, since we have class together, would you mind walking me to Potions? This Castle is positively enormous!" Hermione blushed innocently

Receding back into his polite façade, Tom wiped his mouth on his napkin, and stood taking Hermione's arm, "Of Course, Miss Jones" he replied smoothly

Hermione stood and squeezed Harry's shoulder and said pointedly, "I'll see you later."

Harry finished his breakfast, noticing the obvious glances he was receiving from many of the other Slytherin students; one in particular, who was obviously a Malfoy, judging from the blond hair, slid a seat down until he was sitting directly across from Harry.

"So it's true then. You and your sister are Mudbloods?" He said sneering.

Harry took a deep breath, willing himself not to throttle the obnoxious boy seated in front of him, and glared at him over his glasses before saying, "Yes it's true, is that a problem for you, Malfoy?"

The boy's eyes widened, before remembering himself, "I'm sorry, we haven't been formally introduced, but apparently, my reputation precedes me. I'm Abraxas Malfoy."

"Honestly, I don't care what your name is. If you have a problem with me, just spit it out." Harry spat incredulously.

"Tsk. Manners, Mister Jones. No need to come out 'wand's blazing' as they say, that sort of thing is more Gryffindor's style... Are you sure they put you in the right house?" Malfoy sneered.

Harry actually snorted at the truth of that statement, which caused Abraxas to look at him in confusion until Harry finally said, "Look Malfoy, I get it. I'm not a pureblood like you, and you can insult me all day long for all I care, but if you want to truly see if I am worthy of my magic, I dare you to put your money where your wand is."

Malfoy looked aghast, "Is that a threat, Jones?" he said raising a finely arched eyebrow.

Harry wiped his mouth and stood, "It is. We can either settle this like men…er…wizards, and be done with it, or you can keep on peacocking all you like to try and cover up the fact that you're a coward…when you decide what you want to do, you know where to find me." And with that, Harry strolled confidently out of the great hall, not noticing the two witches sitting at the end of the Slytherin table whispering and giggling to each other as he walked by.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you to those who have taken the time to review! this story has been fun to write!**

 **Chapter 3 –Say, you look familiar...**

Tom escorted Hermione to potion's class, and placed her bag that he had offered to carry for her, behind her chair. She slid into the seat next to him, oblivious to the glares she was receiving from a seventh year Ravenclaw girl sitting two rows back. Hermione decided it was time to put the first phase of her plan for operation _Volde-No-More_ in place. From what she had known about Tom Riddle, he was fiercely competitive, and that he had maintained the highest marks in his classes. That was about to change, because he'd never had worthy competition; he was about to be introduced to Hermione 'the insufferable know it all' Granger. It. Was. _On_.

Professor Slughorn strolled into the potion's classroom, and bid the class to open to page 36 of their Advanced Potion's text.

"Yes, yes, this year we shall begin the term with a most difficult potion, the draught of living death, and you will be working in pairs. Once you have chosen your partner, you may collect the required ingredients from the potion's cupboard and begin."

Tom immediately stood and headed to the back of the classroom to gather ingredients, while Hermione made some notes in the margin of the text. Luckily, Harry had shown her how he had brewed such a perfect version of this potion using Snape's old potion's book by following Snape's added instructions, which she decided to jot down. When Tom returned, Hermione took the Sopophorus beans and began to crush them with the side of the blade.

"What do you think you're doing?! The instructions say to cut the bean not crush it!" Tom cried making a move to stop her before she could add the juice to the potion

"Tom, trust me, will you?" Hermione said grinning and continuing to squeeze the juice from the bean with the blade.

He grimaced and stepped back, allowing her to proceed, certain that she was about to ruin their potion. To his surprise, the potion hissed exactly as it was meant to, and he realized that what she had done had worked. He took a look around the class room, and saw all of the other students struggling to cut the bean's hard outer shell, and then looked once again at Hermione appreciatively. She also added the juice from one extra bean than the instructions called for. Tom watched as the potion came together flawlessly while he gave it the exact number of turns specified.

"Hermione, how did you know how to do that? It's not in the book." He asked her curiously.

She just smiled knowingly at him, remembering what Snape had often pointed out to her, and said, "You won't find everything in a book, you know."

"Yes, but how?" he asked still in disbelief that she would have clearly brewed a superior potion to his had they been working alone.

"Let's just say, I had a really good teacher." Hermione said cryptically

Tom hadn't known that Eunice Murray was that good at potions, but he supposed anything was possible. This girl was such a mystery.

"Tom and Hermione have done it! I dare say, this potion is perfect! Twenty points to Slytherin, and of course an Outstanding for today's lesson. Tremendous job to both of you!"

Most of the students rolled their eyes at the lavish praise being heaped on Tom and Hermione, since they knew Tom was already one of Slughorn's favorite students. The students stood and began to clean up their workstations while Slughorn shouted out that they were to write an essay on the practical uses of the draught of living death, before he turned to Hermione.

"Miss Jones, I wonder if I might have a word? Tom, you are welcome to stay, of course."

Hermione had a feeling that she knew what was coming…he was probably going to invite her into the infamous 'Slug club'.

"Miss Jones, your potions work today was simply outstanding. I wanted to see if you are available to attend a dinner party I am having tomorrow night…it's a little group I've put together of some of Hogwart's most brilliant minds, and it is really important to network you know; opens up doors for future careers and all that. Would you be interested? Tom here is already a member. I dare say, maybe the two of you could attend together?" The professor asked her.

Hermione looked at Tom, who was grinning at her encouragingly. She hadn't had much interest in getting involved with the slug club, but she knew that it would be at one of these dinners that Tom would eventually ask Slughorn about horcruxes…she decided she should accept, even if only to keep her eye on him.

"Of course Professor, I'd be delighted to attend." Hermione responded politely.

"Wonderful, wonderful, I shall see you tomorrow evening then. Now off to class, both of you!"

Tom once again took Hermione's bag for her, and walked with her to Transfiguration.

"What did I just get myself into?" She asked Tom innocently.

"The 'Slug Club' as we call it, is just a get together for those of us who are on track for a ministry career, or who have relatives in positions of power." Tom sneered at that, "Old Slughorn likes to fawn over them to them as a way to make him feel more important than he actually is." He said disdainfully

Hermione noticed his look of loathing when he mentioned that Slughorn liked to include students who had powerful families, and for a brief moment, Hermione was reminded of the fact that she knew Tom had grown up in an orphanage with no family. She would have felt sympathetic, except that she knew how manipulative he could be, and then the moment had passed.

"So what does one wear to a Slug Club dinner then? Uniforms, or?" Hermione asked not sure if people had dressed up for these occasions as they did in her own time.

"They are typically a casual affair, most students just wear their uniforms when the dinners fall during the school week, although he usually throws a garish Yule party before the end of term."

"Good to know. I wouldn't want to look out of place." She said honestly.

Harry had Divination class first, which if at all possible, was worse than when he had taken the class with Sybil Trelawney. This professor made Trelawney seem positively sane. At least he could fake his way through the class much as he had in his own time, and before long, the class was over, and he was heading to Transfiguration which he shared with Hermione and He-who-must-always-be-a-Pain-in-the-arse.

As he exited the tower and headed towards the stairs, he was stopped by a Gryffindor girl, who was a seventh year. She had dark brown hair, and blue eyes, and she looked familiar to him somehow, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was.

"So you're Harry right? Harry Jones? I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Euphemia Prewett, though everyone calls me Effie. How are you liking Hogwart's so far?"

"It's…Big, but amazing." Harry replied honestly. Though he was very familiar with the castle from his own time, he never felt like he'd get used to how impressive it truly was.

"Yes, it is…well, it was nice to meet you. I hope to see you around, Harry" she said and blushed as she averted her eyes and hurried down the stairs.

Well, _that_ was interesting.

Harry shook his head and continued down the stairs. When he reached the hall just outside the transfiguration class room, he accidentally bumped into a Gryffindor boy who was also a sixth year. He had black messy hair, and blue eyes. Harry paled as he stared at him, noting that they had looked so much alike, they could have been brothers. He quickly stood and offered his hand to the boy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Harry said apologetically.

"You should watch where you're going!" The boy snapped, and brushed off the front of his school robes. The boy looked up at him then, and must also noticed the strange resemblance.

"Do I…know you?" he asked quizzically

"No, I'm sure we've never met. I'm Harry Jones, I just transferred here." Harry said truly discomfited by their eerie likeness.

"Ah. I'm Fleamont Potter. I'm sorry you ended up in Slytherin, mate, bunch of tossers if you ask me." Fleamont said

Harry couldn't help but laugh at Fleamont's insult, internally heartily agreeing with his assessment, but he just recovered himself and said, "Some of them are, it would seem, but I can assure you, we're not all bad." Harry said as he shook Fleamont's hand. As a Potter, this boy was obviously one of his family members. He liked him already.

"Good to know! See you around, Jones." Fleamont said as he sauntered away down the hall.

He couldn't wait to tell Hermione, this was incredible! He actually had living family members!

Harry walked into Transfiguration class and slid into the seat beside Hermione. Tom, thankfully, was seated on the other side of the room.

"Hermione, I just met a Potter! An actual living Potter!" Harry whispered as he tried to reign in his excitement.

"Right, that would be…Fleamont? He's your grandfather, if I recall correctly." Hermione whispered back to him. She didn't want to admit, that she had actually memorized Hogwart's: A History from her own timeline.

"This is unbelievable...sort of creepy, but unbelievable." He said still smiling.

"Yes, but you must remember that you absolutely _cannot_ let him know who you really are and where you are from…the consequences would be disastrous." She reminded him quietly.

"I know, I know…I've already introduced myself as 'Harry Jones'. He did notice the resemblance though, so let's just hope he chocks it up to coincidence." Harry told her.

Hermione turned forward after that to give her full attention to Professor Dumbledore as the Transfiguration lesson begun.

"Can anyone tell me who the first person was to adapt transfiguration to be used with Magical methods of transportation?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

Before he finished his sentence, two hands shot into the air simultaneously, ready to answer the question. Tom glanced over to see who the other student was who had the gall to try and take all the credit in class, and of course, it was Hermione Jones. The corners of his mouth turned down briefly in a frown, when Professor Dumbledore called on her, before he quickly pulled a look of indifference on his face. _Of course_ , Dumbledore would call on _her_ to answer.

"That esteemed honor belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. When she created the Hufflepuff cup, it was initially used to transport food from the kitchens at Hogwarts to the great Hall, acting similarly to that of a portkey. The Cup itself was transfigured from a golden brooch she had once worn on her robes." Hermione answered and then glanced over at Tom, a smirk forming on her lips. Just as she had predicted, Tom had looked away from her quickly, focusing intently on his notes as if her active participation in class had not annoyed him. Already, two classes into the day, she had managed to earn more house points than he did. She badly wanted to gloat, but quickly reminded herself who she was dealing with, and decided she had better not.

Charms class went by pretty uneventfully. Once again, she had been competing with Tom to answer all of Professor Hardgrove's questions. At the end of class, Hermione jotted down her homework assignment and packed up her things to make her way to the great hall for lunch. Tom made his way over to her at the end of class, and once again picked up her bag. Hermione blushed, which did not go unnoticed by Tom. Harry, who also shared charms with them had to force his hands to relax when they balled into fists by his side after watching the way Tom was pouring it on thick for Hermione. She couldn't really be falling for this crap, could she? Harry glanced at Hermione, and realized she most definitely was.

"Hermione, you must have forgotten; we are to meet with…the Headmaster …during lunch to discuss end of term arrangements." Harry lied smoothly, hoping that Hermione would understand that he needed to speak with her in private.

Tom turned around, and narrowed his eyes at Harry, clearly not believing his excuse.

"That's right! How silly of me to forget!" Hermione replied without skipping a beat. She reached for her bag and her fingers brushed Tom's bicep as the strap slid over his arm, and her breath hitched at the contact. The corner of his mouth turned up in a knowing smirk, clearly seeing the effect he was having on her. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she tried to change the subject.

"Right, well, I'll see you in Defense class after Lunch, Tom." And she gave him a shy smile before heading towards the Headmaster's office with Harry.

Once she was sure they were out of hearing range from Tom, she shot Harry a glare.

"Room of requirement" was all he said.

Once they had reached the seventh floor corridor, Harry paced back and forth in front of it and said, "we need a quiet place to talk" and a door appeared in the wall. Harry opened the door quickly and pulled Hermione inside.

"Are you crazy?" He practically roared at her once the door was closed and warded.

"Excuse me?!" She yelled back not sure where all his anger was coming from.

"You are playing with _fire_ , Hermione, and I don't want to be the one to say 'I told you so' when you get burned. It's Tom _fucking_ Riddle….How could you even think.." Harry began before Hermione cut him off.

"That's rich! Only this morning you were only too happy to be discussing quidditch try outs with him, but if, Godric forbid, he's _nice_ to me, there has to be an ulterior motive – is that what you are trying to imply?" Hermione practically screeched

"You know, Hermione, for someone so intelligent, you can be really quite thick sometimes." Harry spat.

Her mouth dropped open in shock, was he calling her stupid? "You know what Harry? I think you're just Jealous…because in this timeline, you aren't the center of the universe. The fate of the world, believe it or not, does _not_ revolve around you!" she said coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Harry stared at her in disbelief. Is that what she thought this was about?

Harry took a deep breath and calmed himself. He apparently was not explaining himself well.

"Look, Hermione, I get that Riddle's an attractive bloke – and I'm not in any way trying to insinuate that you aren't worthy of his attentions. Honestly, I think it goes without saying that I think you can do _much_ better." at this, he noticed a smirk forming in the corner of her mouth, "It's just that, Riddle – well, he's a master manipulator. You should be second guessing _everything_ he does. He does nothing without purpose, and I just want to make sure you are aware of that, and are being careful." Harry finally said.

"So you think he's attractive, Harry?" Hermione joked, not able to stop the smile that spread across her face

"Hermione! You missed the point on that one." Harry said trying not to laugh at her teasing.

"Harry, I understand your concern, I do, and believe me, I am watching Riddle _very_ closely."

Harry was quiet for a minute before he started to laugh, "I'll bet you are, Hermione" he teased.

She responded by tossing a throw pillow at his head.

"Seriously though, you should know, that if he ever tries to hurt you, I'll kill him." Harry said seriously.

A shiver suddenly shot down her spine. There was a flicker of something in Harry's eyes that she had never noticed before…

"Harry, I…"she began

"Just be careful" he said interrupting her thoughts. He squeezed her hand and then summoned a house elf to bring them some lunch in the room of requirement. A table appeared in the corner, complete with sandwiches, fruit, a pitcher of pumpkin juice, and some biscuits.

Hermione ate her sandwich quietly, mulling over what Harry had said to her. The moment between them had gotten suddenly awkward, and she wondered if Harry had been feeling something more than friendship towards her after all these years…something he'd never told her. She wondered if it was because he had known that she had liked Ron. It suddenly all began to fall into place then. Harry was always putting everyone's needs before his own, including being ready to die for 'The Greater Good'…it wouldn't be a stretch to think that he would keep his own feelings quiet so that she and Ron could be happy. She was pretty sure that if she looked up 'self sacrifice' in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Harry James Potter right next to it. Did she have any feelings for Harry? She loved him, certainly. He was one of her best friends, but when she tried to imagine kissing him, it just didn't feel _right_.

Aside from the fact that Tom Riddle was a totally _hot_ manipulative bastard, it also explained why his fawning over Hermione had irritated Harry so much. He was jealous. She decided to try and keep her interactions with Tom to a minimum when she was around Harry, if only to not stoke the flames. Pitting Harry against Tom in this timeline, before they were meant to, could be disastrous for their future.

She decided she best try to dispel the awkwardness that had fallen between them, "I'm really looking forward to Professor Merrythought's Defense class this afternoon…I've been doing some reading…"

"Of course you have." Harry interjected smiling

Hermione swatted him and continued talking, "From what I read she was one of Hogwart's best Defense teachers. She held the post until she retired…er…retires in 1945. We're very lucky to have this opportunity to learn from her."

Harry agreed and as they finished their lunch, he decided to tease Hermione again by reaching for her sachel and saying, "Miss Jones, may I escort you to Defense class?" in his best imitation of Tom's voice.

Hermione laughed

"Merlin, Hermione, does that rubbish actually work?" he asked her laughing.

"It's called chivalry, Harry, and yes it does. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from it" Hermione instantly regretted saying that as she saw a fleeting look of hurt pass over his face before he forced a smile back into place

She squeezed his arm, and he looked up at her, "Although, I can't wait to see Riddle's face tomorrow when you thoroughly thrash him at Quidditch tryouts." Hermione said smiling. Since it seemed that they would be stuck here in the past, for the foreseeable future as it were, she didn't want to push away the one person who she could talk freely to. Maybe, overtime, her feelings towards him would change.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hi all! Thank you for the continued reviews! I can't respond directly if you review as a guest, but I just want to point something out about this story, as well as the majority of the types of fics I tend to write; I like writing humor/ crack fics, and this is definitely one of them. The point of this type of fic, is to create a ridiculous situation and throw the characters into it and see what will happen. These situations are mostly AU, and would never happen in canon….but as I said, that is entirely the point. Because of this, all bets are off. There is no standard on how Hermione or Tom, or Harry would act or react in a patently impossible situation that would never happen to begin with. Liberties with this is allowed, because that is what helps to create the humor. In other words, these stories are not meant to be taken seriously. They are meant to be funny, and to make you laugh. There may be some more serious parts sprinkled in from time to time, but ultimately, this story is a comedy. Rest assured, I have in fact read all of the Harry Potter books multiple times, and I do know what is canon. I have written the stories the way I do on purpose because it is tied into the plot that I am creating, not because I don't know what actually happened in the books. It is intentional, for the sake of the story. If you don't like stories where creative license is taken, or AU stories, or humor/crack fics, you may want to skip over reading most of my works, because that's what I do, occasional drama aside. Also, I tend to write free form, meaning I start with a single scene or idea, and just sit down and write the story as it comes. No outline, no plan. I felt the need to mention this, because across a few different stories of mine that are humor fics, it seems some people are taking them entirely too seriously, and that completely misses the point of what I set out to do. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!**

 **Chapter 4 - You're going down, Riddle!**

As Harry and Hermione headed down to the defense classroom, they were surprised to see a dueling platform set up in the room. Harry looked at Hermione nervously, hoping that he wouldn't be paired to duel with Riddle. The possibility of their wands meeting, and the twin cores causing the _priori incantatum_ in the middle of class would surely cause drastic alterations to their future timeline.

As the rest of the students filed into the class room, Professor Merrythought strolled in and stood atop the platform facing the class.

"Good Afternoon! As you all well know, today marks the start of the annual Inter-house dueling championships. You will be paired off with members of opposing houses, and the winner of each duel must then face the other winners and so on, until only one champion remains." Professor Merrythought explained.

Hermione's hand went into the air.

"Yes, Miss Jones?"

"Professor, since there are more Slytherins in this class than those of other houses, won't some of us be dueling with each other?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss Jones, that is true. You will be paired off as much as possible so that you are facing an opponent from an opposing house, however, depending on the outcome of the duel, there may be more winners from one house than another. Eventually, even they must face off." Professor Merrythought explained.

Hermione nodded, and with that, the professor assigned everyone into pairs.

"Before we begin, the rules are as follows: each duel will last no more than 3 minutes. No illegal curses, nothing I can't heal, and proper dueling etiquette must be observed at all times. I will be keeping score. If both opponents are still standing at the end of the three minutes, it will be a winner by decision, and that person shall move on in the competition. Any questions?"

No one raised their hand. Hermione glanced over at Tom who was chatting with Abraxas Malfoy with a far too smug look on his face. She had the sudden urge throttle him in a duel, if only to bring him down a peg. Wouldn't that be the day; Voldemort losing in a classroom duel…to a _girl_. Hermione snorted thinking about it, and the object of her attention looked over at her and narrowed his eyes.

"Shall we begin? Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, take your positions if you please." Professor Merrythought said

Fleamont Potter and Abraxas Malfoy took the stage and stood facing one another.

"Scared Potter?" Abraxas taunted

"You wish" Fleamont replied.

Harry elbowed Hermione, "This looks familiar…"

Hermione bit down on her lip to keep from laughing out loud. It truly was eerie seeing Harry and Draco's ancestors facing off against one another as it mirrored their own interactions perfectly.

Before Fleamont had completed his bow, Abraxas fired off two curses in succession, the first one Fleamont dodged due to his quick reflexes, though the second knocked him off his feet. He quickly stood back up and fired off a curse, and then two additional curses quickly behind it before Abraxas could block it. Abraxas was hit with both curses before he could throw up his shield, and was thrown across the stage.

Hermione glanced over at Tom who had a look of disgust on his face. Apparently he wasn't too happy with Malfoy's performance.

The timer went off, and Professor Merrythought announced the winner as Fleamont Potter. For a moment, Harry almost clapped, before he realized that as a Slytherin, he shouldn't be rooting for a Gryffindor.

The duels continued; Harry against Septimus Weasely, Tom against Arthur Diggory, Antonin Dolohov against Zacariah Longbottom, Euphemia Prewett against Helena Abbott, Edmond Doge against Elaina Bones, and Elphias Fletcher against Pandora Lovegood.

Finally, Hermione took the stage against Isadora Selwyn, a seventh year Ravenclaw, who had long blond hair, and deep blue eyes. She was a timeless beauty in every sense, so naturally, Hermione already despised her. To make matters worse, Isadora was working very hard to capture Tom's attention. Hermione took in Isadora's pathetic glances at Tom, and she felt something that she never in a million years would have imagined would be in her ' _feelings regarding Voldemort_ ' file…she was jealous. If Tom so much as winked at the blond hag, Hermione was going to rip every bleach blond hair out of her head. It was a perfectly rational thing to want to do. Isadora stepped towards Hermione and bowed, although her eyes were firmly glued on Tom. Hermione smirked and then fired off three curses before the poor girl even had a chance to straighten her posture. Tom couldn't hide his smirk as Isadora was flipped into the air and landed rather ungracefully, with her skirt up over her bum. For a moment, Hermione felt a pang of remorse for the girl's humiliation, but as soon as she stood up and glared at Hermione, the moment had passed. After another minute, Hermione was able to land another curse, hitting the girl with the jelly legs jinx. She watched Isadora attempt to wobble around the stage helplessly until the timer finally ran out. Hermione, had obviously won that round.

After the first round of dueling was finished, the winners were: Fleamont, Harry, Hermione, Tom, Antonin, Euphemia, Elaina, and Pandora.

For round two, Professor Merrythought called Fleamont up to duel against Tom. Harry and Hermione watched anxiously, as Harry's doppleganger went toe to toe with the future dark lord. Hermione inhaled sharply just before they took their stance, and Tom glanced down at her and with a smug smile. Within moments, Fleamont was thrown across the room, and Tom was twirling his yew wand between his fingers waiting for what he felt would be a proper challenge. Fleamont got up, and before he could even begin to fire off a curse, Tom threw two more at him once again throwing him clear across the room. Harry stood next to Hermione, and she saw his fist tighten around his wand. Still for Tom, it was pretty tame; he hadn't yet felt the need to start throwing truly dark curses. Tom clearly had won that round.

Next, Harry was up against Euphemia. As she climbed the stage she shot a shy smile at Harry. Harry remembered she was the one who had stopped him on the way out of the Astronomy tower that morning after Diviniation class. Harry bowed to her, and before he was fully standing again, she fired three curses at him in rapid succession. Harry managed to throw up his shield and fire off a curse which she easily blocked. Whatever he'd been expecting from Euphemia, it certainly wasn't her excellent dueling skills. After the three minutes, time was called and Professor Merrythought declared Euphemia the winner of their duel. Harry nodded to her out of respect before he stepped off the stage. Now that he had lost his duel, Harry didn't have to worry about facing off with Tom and risking their wands meeting.

Professor Merrythought called Hermione and Antonin Dolohov up to the stage. Hermione felt her blood run cold, like ice water was running though her veins. She recalled clearly the fight at the Department of Mysteries in her own timeline in which he fired a curse at her that left her scarred from her hip to sternum. She felt a surge of anger rise up within her at the memory. Despite the fact that he hadn't cursed her yet in this timeline, she was going to _enjoy_ this.

Before bowing to Dolohov, she glanced at Tom who had his eyes trained on her. She smirked at him, and threw the same slicing hex at Dolohov that he had used on her at the Department of Mysteries. She saw him fall over in pain, clutching his shoulder. Professor Merrythought paused the timer and healed the wound on Dolohov's shoulder before being assured he could still fight. He stood, and fired off three nasty hexes towards Hermione. She was able to dodge one and throw up a shield blocking the last two. She once again managed to hit him with a stinging hex before the timer went off. Professor Merrythought declared Hermione the winner. The remaining pair, Elaina and Pandora took the stage to duel, and Pandora easily took out her opponent, Helena within the first two minutes.

The 4 remaining students had to now face off against each other for round three; Pandora against Hermione, and Euphemia against Tom. Harry hoped that Hermione would purposely lose the duel to avoid having to duel with Tom, but he knew better than to think Hermione would do any such thing.

As Harry feared, the two winners were Hermione and Tom. Harry watched anxiously as Tom stepped onto the stage with Hermione. Her resolved strengthened, and she recalled the smug look he had on his face at the beginning of class, and a slow smirk spread across her face. She doubted very much that Tom would kill her right in the middle of class, so this was probably going to be her only chance to attempt to beat him at a duel without fearing for her life.

He took in her stance and saw the smirk hinting at the corner of her lips. He was going to enjoy wiping that smile off of her face. Despite being a mudblood, she had surprisingly proved to be a worthy opponent. They faced each other and bowed, but before she moved back to standing, she fired two rapid hexes at him followed by three more. He easily dodged the first two, and fired off one of his own before erecting his shield to fend off the other three she had tossed at him. As the moments ticked by, and no hexes were hitting their intended targets, the curses began to grow a bit darker as Tom's irritation rose. He had no desire to lose in this duel, but even less so to lose to a mudblood. Hermione could sense the growing danger, and she tossed the same slicing hex that she had used on Dolohov at him in desperation, and to her astonishment, the curse hit its mark; blood welled up from a gash on his forearm. Shock mixed with rage registered on his face before he threw _diffindo_ at her with the full strength of his power, which hit her hard in the stomach, sending her across the room and crashing into the wall. Professor Merrythought and Harry immediately rushed over to Hermione to assess her injuries. She had hit the wall so hard, she was knocked unconscious. Tom quickly healed the gash in his forearm, and rushed over to Hermione to show the proper amount of concern for her condition. The professor was able to wake her up after whispering _enervate_ , then placing an _immobulis_ charm on her, she asked Harry to escort her to the hospital wing. Tom of course, appeared to be stricken with worry since it was his curse that had caused her injury, so Professor Merrythought allowed him to go with them to the hospital wing as well. Harry wasn't fooled, however, he knew Tom's apologies were insincere at best.

Despite being in a full body bind so that she didn't risk further injuring herself as well as the aching ribs and pounding headache, Hermione seemed pretty pleased with herself; even though she had clearly lost the duel.

"Jones, why are you smiling like that?" Tom asked her, a note of annoyance in his voice.

"Because you clearly weren't expecting that I could hit you, and I did." Hermione said with entirely too much satisfaction evident in her tone.

"That, I assure you, will be the first and the last time, Jones." Tom said in a huff of irritation

Hermione continued to smile at him, and despite himself, he glanced down at her again, and the corner of his lips held the ghost of a smile. Merlin, this girl was strange.

Harry noticed the grin on Tom's face and his mood darkened. This was no good. He definitely was not about to turn a blind eye to whatever was happening between Tom and Hermione. Tom Riddle was bad news, and Harry was not going to step out of the way as he had for Ron. Ron, at least, was good, and Hermione had returned his feelings as far as he could tell. This though, was another kettle of fish entirely. He had to be careful not to blow his cover as her brother, but, that didn't mean he was going to allow it. Being Hermione's overprotective brother suddenly seemed like the perfect way to keep Riddle away from her.

"Why are you here, Riddle, Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" Harry snapped accusingly as he squeezed Hermione's hand.

"Harry, it was an accident. We were dueling, what did you think, that we would be flinging tickling hexes at each other?" Tom replied sarcastically.

Hermione snorted at that. The idea of the dark lord tickling his victims to death was too much.

Harry glared at Hermione's reaction, and as they reached the hospital wing, he pushed Hermione through the doors and faced Riddle, "You just stay away from her, Riddle." He spat before he slammed the doors in Tom's face.

"Harry! What's got into you? That was rude!" she chided.

Harry just gave her a look that basically just said, ' _Really?!_ '

"Okay, so he's a bit rough around the edges…" Hermione started to say

"A bit? _A BIT_? Hermione…have you forgotten who we are talking about?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Of course not!" she snapped, "It's just that he hasn't turned into _you-know-who_ yet, and I think…well, you know the muggle saying, ' _You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar_ '…" Hermione trailed off.

"We're not catching flies here, Hermione! He's a psychopath! Ron nailed it when he said that you needed to sort out your priorities!" Harry said angrily and ran his hand threw his hair in frustration.

"Harry, please just trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I _do not_ have a death wish. I know what I'm doing" she said trying to ease the tension.

"Well, it didn't bloody look like it back there." He said and then he sighed and sat down on her cot.

Before she could respond, a young Madam Pomfrey bustled over and made a shooing gesture to Harry so that she could properly assess her patient.

"Right, what happened here Miss Jones?" Madame Pomfrey asked while scanning Hermione with her wand.

"Dueling Championships." Was all Hermione said before Madame Pomfrey nodded and rolled her eyes.

"The lot of you will end up killing each other before that woman retires, mark my words" Madame Pomfrey mumbled sarcastically to herself.

"A cracked rib and a concussion, nothing life threatening at least. Take this" and she handed Hermione a small vial of skele-gro potion and a simple pain relieving potion.

"You'll have to spend the night here, I'm afraid, although you should be right as rain in the morning. Do try not to sleep for the next several hours though. I'll be back to check on you in a little while. Call if you need anything." And with that, Madame Pomfrey headed back into her office leaving Harry and Hermione alone once again.

"Harry, I'll be fine. Really. You should get back and keep an eye on Riddle." Hermione protested.

Harry sighed, and bent down to drop a chaste kiss on her forehead, conveying everything he couldn't say aloud to her, before he turned and headed out of the hospital wing.

Hermione touched the place on her head where Harry had kissed her, and felt a slight pang of guilt that the excitement she had felt at accidentally brushing Tom's bicep hadn't appeared just now with Harry. There was no denying it, she _wanted_ Tom Marvolo Riddle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN:**

 **Chapter 5 – Late Night Meetings**

Harry made his way down to the Slytherin Common room after his last class of the day. He had promised Hermione that he would keep an eye on Tom, and that was exactly what he planned to do.

Tom was sitting on one of the leather couches by the hearth when Harry entered the common room. Abraxas was leaning down whispering something in Tom's ear when he glanced up at Harry and smirked. Whatever they were discussing, couldn't bode well for him and Hermione.

"Jones" Abraxas nodded as he swept past Harry and left the common room.

Harry narrowed his eyes and headed past Tom up to the boy's dormitories so that he could made some adjustments to the Maurader's Map in private. Once he was on his bed with the curtains drawn around him, and wards in place, he pulled the map out of his back pocket and tapped it with his wand muttering, ' _I solemnly swear I am up to no good'_ , and watched as the ink spilled across the parchment forming a map of the castle.

Harry thought about all of the Death Eaters he knew of from his own time, and added their names, along with Tom Riddle's to the map, so he could plot their movements. Abraxas Malfoy, apparently was headed to the library. Tom was still showing up as seated in the Slytherin common room, and Hermione was still safely in the hospital wing. Feeling exhausted from a long day, Harry leaned his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes just for a moment.

Tom placed the book he had been reading, ' _The darkest Art'_ , back into his satchel. He stood, brushing a small piece of lint off of his robes and decided it would be a good time to visit Hermione in the hospital wing, since her brother was otherwise occupied in the dormitory. He knew that there was something _off_ about the two of them, though he wasn't sure yet what it was. He knew that they were definitely hiding something though, and he was going to find out what it was. If there was something Tom despised, it was being lied to. He knew Harry would never willingly give him the information he desired, but Hermione…well, she was a witch who was not immune to his charms, so it seemed. Tom made up his mind and slipped out of the common room and made his way up to the hospital wing.

When he arrived, she had her head turned to the side and her eyes were closed. Her brows were knitted together tightly, as if she was experiencing some level of pain, or anxiety, her breath came out in short pants as she shook her head back and forth. Her hands suddenly flew up into the air, as if she was trying to fend off an invisible attacker, and a scream erupted from her throat before Tom grasped her arms and shook her awake.

Her eyes were wild at first, and as soon as her eyes met his, a look of terror crossed her face, and she scooted as far away from him on the cot as she could, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.

"Please…" she whispered, her voice sounding small even to her own ears.

He held up his hands, not wanting to frighten her any further, and used the most soothing tone he could to calm her.

"Hermione, you were just dreaming. I'm not going to hurt you." He said slowly

The past twenty-four hours flashed though Hermione' mind, and she let out the breath she had been holding.

"No, of course not" she replied evenly, though he noticed she hadn't moved her position.

"What…what were you dreaming about? You were acting as though someone or something was attacking you…" he asked in a tone that implied curiosity and concern.

Hermione knew that he was trying to get information out of her. There was no way she was going to tell him she had been dreaming about Lord Voldemort.

"I don't remember", she lied smoothly, "I used to have night terrors when I was a child, so more than likely, that's all it was."

Tom could tell that she was lying. Nightmares he could believe, he'd had many of his own back in his days at the orphanage. It was her reaction to _him_ upon waking though, that gave her away.

"Hm." Was all Tom said in response. Interrogating her over the matter would surely not bring the desired results, so it seemed the best thing to do was drop the matter entirely for now, and work on building up her trust in him. Once he gained her trust, she would tell him everything he wanted to know; of that he was certain.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, gesturing to her ribs.

"Much better, thanks. The crack should be healed by now, and my head feels much less foggy now. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will release me before breakfast tomorrow."

"It _was_ an accident, you know that, right?" he asked tilting her chin up with his fingers so that she would look at him.

"Yes, of course. I noticed you healed your arm as well right after the duel. Sorry about that, though I suppose that is the whole point, isn't it?" she laughed, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yes, it is. I just had not anticipated you landing anything, and well…I guess I got carried away." He said, though the words ' _I'm sorry'_ never actually left his lips.

"It's fine. Really. It's in the past." She told him.

A breathtaking smile spread across his face then, making his face light up in a way she could never have imagined. He really was gorgeous, it was so tragically unfair.

"So, I never actually asked you…" he started to say, and he saw a frown beginning to form in the corners of her mouth

"…That is, if you want to…you don't have to…" he stumbled over his words nervously.

"Tom, Ask me what?" she said not sure where he was going with this.

"To the Slug club dinner tomorrow night…I mean, Slughorn suggested we come together, but…I never actually asked you. Would you like to? Go with me, that is?" he asked giving her a hopeful look that made her heart beat wildly in her chest.

She smiled then, a real smile; and shook her head, "Yes, Tom, I'd be delighted to attend with you."

He reached out then, and grasped her hand caressing the back of it with his thumb. She felt a jolt once again run through her from this simple touch that went straight through her. It was as if some primal part of her brain was wired to throw all caution and logic out the window the moment he touched her, despite the alarm bells going off telling her to stay away. Her mind wandered of its own accord, imagining if just a simple touch could illicit these feelings, what kissing him would be like.

"Well, I should let you rest. Between classes, quidditch tryouts, and Slughorn's party; tomorrow will be a long day." He said squeezing her hand once more and giving her his most charming smile.

"Until tomorrow then." Hermione replied, biting on her bottom lip as she watched him make his way out of the hospital wing.

When she thought about how nervous he seemed when he asked her to attend Slughorn's party with him, she idly wondered if his nervousness had been genuine. If she knew anything about Tom Riddle, it was that he was anything _but_ a nervous school boy. More than likely, it was calculated. He seemed to want to get close to her for some purpose, although what that purpose was, she couldn't be sure. A thought crossed her mind then that left her cold…he had unrestricted access to the Chamber of Secrets, and the Basilisk was still alive…what if… _what if he is making a show of caring for me so that he could order his Basilisk to kill her without raising suspicion_? The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She would have to be extremely careful when dealing with him from now on.

In order to keep up appearances, she would continue to play the part of simpering school girl, and hope that somehow, somewhere, he would slip up, and tip her off as to what his true intentions were. When it happened, she would be ready. With that final thought, she closed her eyes once again, and fell asleep.

~~{0}~~

Harry's eyes snapped open, and he glanced at the clock on his bedside table; it was 11:58pm. He had fallen asleep for several hours when he had only intended to close his eyes for a few moments. He listened quietly for a moment, and realized he didn't hear any sounds coming from within the room; no snores, no quiet breathing. None of his dorm mates were in their beds. Harry pulled out the Marauder's map and tapped it once again and whispered the incantation to reveal itself. On first glance, seeing a group of Slytherin's gathered in the common room may seem innocuous, but Harry knew better. More than likely, Tom was having one of his little 'meetings'.

As quietly as he could, he crept out of bed with his wand drawn, and cast a disillusionment charm on himself. He wished fervently in that moment, that he had the invisibility cloak, which sadly, had been left behind in the future. He also cast a silencing charm in the hallway so that he could creep down towards the common room without alerting the group to his presence.

Tom stood in front of the hearth, pacing back and forth in front of several Slytherins, all boys he noticed; there wasn't a single female Slytherin among them. He focused once again on Tom as he heard him speak.

"My knights, tonight we meet to discuss something which greatly concerns me. As you all know, nothing goes on in this castle, that I am not aware of. However, this morning brought the arrival of the _transfer students_ ," he'd said it as if the word alone left a sour taste in his mouth, "which, frankly, I find very suspicious. Something about their story isn't adding up."

Harry's eyes widened. He knew it was too much to hope that Riddle would buy their story, but now, he knew for certain that he clearly didn't.

"Not to mention, that they are mudbloods who have been sorted into the noble house of Slytherin; this is a grave insult against our ancestors who embraced Slytherin's ideals. This was done purposely, but for what purpose, I do not yet have the answer to; rest assured that I will soon." Tom stated confidently

"My lord, we have ways of persuading the girl to talk" Abraxas offered, grinning evilly.

"NO. I _forbid_ any of you to touch her. I'll deal with her myself." Tom commanded.

Abraxas knew from Tom's tone of voice that this would be the one and only warning they would receive. If anyone disobeyed his commands, then Salazar have mercy on their soul.

"And what of her brother, my lord?" Edmond Lestrange spoke up.

Tom's smile spread wickedly as he looked around at his 'knights', "He is planning to try out for the Slytherin team tomorrow…it would raise no questions if he were to meet with an unfortunate accident." He said cryptically.

Harry's hand tightened around his wand. He was sorely temped to send a well placed ' _Avada Kedavra'_ at Tom Riddle right now, though he knew there were too many others for him to escape unscathed. Not to mention, He and Hermione currently had no way to return to their own time, and he didn't fancy spending the rest of his life in Azkaban for murdering a fellow student…Even if said student had it coming.

Harry crept back to the dorms, and reset the wards around his bed. No doubt at least one of them would check to make sure he was sleeping before they all retired for the night. He resolved to go straight to the hospital wing first thing in the morning to tell Hermione what he had heard. He had to warn her about Riddle. Maybe for once, she would actually listen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hi all! Thanks again for the lovely reviews! Trigger warning for this chapter, there is an attempted rape scene (I know, heavy stuff for this kind of fic, but it was necessary to drive the plot...and don't worry, it's not Tom!), also, please follow me on Instagram to view my fanfic artwork! Sharkdiver1980. I don't have artwork for this fic yet, but there are 3 images for Forbidden, and 1 GIF for Besotted, and a few others for Fics I am working on but have not yet published.**

 **Chapter 6 – Terrible Liar**

Hermione's eyes opened to the early morning light filtering in through the hospital wing's large windows. The sound of the door swinging open caused her to turn her head and see if it was someone coming to visit her, or if another student was in need of medical attention. She was happy to see it was Harry striding towards her cot, although the troubled look on his face was concerning.

"Harry, is something wrong?" she asked as he reached her side.

"I should be asking how you're doing, you're the one in the hospital wing." He said tilting his lips up in a half smile.

"What's wrong, Harry? I've known you far too long and I know when something is bothering you." She demanded in her usual bossy tone

"Some things never change at least." Harry snorted before his face became serious once again. He took a moment to look around, and he cast a _muffliato_ around her cot

"Last night, I was watching Riddle…well, until I fell asleep that is…but late last night, after I woke up, they were having a meeting, Hermione, in the common room." Harry told her.

"You mean a _Death Eater_ meeting?" Hermione practically squeeked, her hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock. She hadn't realized that Tom had started doing that while he was still a student at Hogwart's.

"Well, not exactly; he was calling them his 'Knights', but I have a feeling, this is just a precursor to the Death Eaters. At some point, he will change the name, but I think their mission is the same." Harry explained.

"Did they see you? What did they say?" Hermione interrogated him

"No, no they didn't see me…I was under a strong disillusionment spell, they thought I was asleep in the dormitory. They were talking about us, and Riddle said that he didn't believe our story and that he thought we were hiding something." Harry continued

"You _think?_!" Hermione said sarcastically, but encouraged Harry to continue.

"Malfoy asked if Riddle wanted him to… _persuade you_ …", and at this Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust, imagining what forms of persuasion Malfoy had in mind before he continued, "to tell them what you know."

" _Ew_." Hermione said simply.

"Yeah. Well, anyways, the strange thing was, that Riddle seemed to get upset about that, and he _forbid_ them to touch you. He said, and I quote, ' _I'll deal with her myself'_ " Harry told her.

A shiver went down her spine at that, and the thought wasn't entirely unpleasant. She couldn't tell Harry that though.

"I see…and what about you?" she asked, having a feeling she knew where this conversation was headed.

"Riddle basically told his minions that no one would be the wiser if I had an 'unfortunate accident' during quidditch tryouts this afternoon. One of them, or maybe a few, will most definitely try something." Harry said grimly.

"Right, well, we can't let them suspect that we have any idea what they are planning. You have to go and try out for the team, as if nothing was amiss. I'll be there of course, in the stands watching your back." Hermione said with a contemplative look on her face.

"Hermione, what good could you possibly do in the stands when we are flying around all over the pitch?" Harry asked her in exasperation.

"Do you remember when Ron tried out for Keeper?" she asked him suddenly.

"Of course I do, what does that have to do with anything?" he asked

"Well, didn't you ever find it… _odd_ …that Cormac McLaggen, who had been having an excellent audition up to one point suddenly start missing saves left and right?" Hermione asked biting her lip in a knowing smile.

"Well yes, but I just thought….wait…that was you? _You_ did that? Hermione! That was cheating!" Harry said laughing at her admission.

"I simply cast a _confundus_ or two, but still, Ron played well, and he made the team all on his own merit. That's beside the point though…what I mean is, I'll be watching and if someone tries anything when you aren't looking, well…I'll make sure they don't." Hermione said smiling at him.

He hugged her then, in a vice-like grip, "What would I do without you, Hermione?" He said before he pulled back and looked deep into her eyes. Once again, an awkwardness passed between them until she could no longer stand it and changed the subject.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you…Riddle paid me a visit last night." She told him

"What?! What happened? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked incredulously.

"Harry, calm down; I hadn't gotten a chance with what you came here to tell me about, and besides, nothing happened…not really." Hermione explained.

"What does ' _not really_ ' mean?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow knowing she was definitely leaving something out.

"Well, he just came by to see how I was, and I guess, in his own way apologize…although lets be honest, Tom Riddle has never apologized for _anything_ in his life…"she rambled

"Hermione, get to the point." Harry said pinching the bridge of his nose

"Well, once we got all that out of the way, he sort of… _askedmetobehisdatefortheSlugClubdinner_ " she finished in a rush.

"He… _what_ now? He asked you _out_? On a _date?_ " Harry asked, his voice dangerously low, and his face turning an unflattering shade of red.

Hermione knew this would not go well, and she laid a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Well, after potion's class yesterday, when Slughorn invited me, he sort of pushed Tom into it, and said that we should come together…Tom though, felt it would be rude I guess, to not ask me himself, so he…did. It's just a dinner, and it doesn't mean anything. As much as I would rather be doing anything else but attending those insipid dinner parties, I thought it would be stupid not to go, considering it is at one of these get togethers that Tom will ask Slughorn about horcruxes. It was the only way I could think of to keep an eye on him." Hermione explained trying to diffuse the situation.

"So it's 'Tom' now, is it?" Harry asked with a hint of jealousy lacing his voice

"Harry, honestly. If that was all you got out of what I just said, then that is just… _childish_." Hermione huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through this messy hair, "You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't take this out on you." He said tiredly.

"It's alright. We'll get through this. Today will be a long day, so as Moody would say, 'Constant Vigilance'." Hermione laughed and squeezed his arm in support.

Just then, Harry saw Madame Pomfrey making her way towards them so he swished his wand and whispered _finite incantatum_ to undo the _muffliato_ spell he had cast. Madam Pomfrey bustled over and clicked her tongue in annoyance that Hermione already had visitors this early in the morning.

"Mister Jones, I assure you, your sister is quite alright, in fact, she can go once I give her another check over to make sure her ribs are completely healed. She'll meet you at Breakfast, now run along." She chided and made a motion for Harry to get moving.

Not wanting to argue with the medi-witch, he stood and picked up his satchel and told Hermione that he'd save her a seat in the Great Hall.

The morning classes went by uneventfully, however there was a growing ball of nerves settling in Harry's stomach. It was nerve wracking enough to go through quidditch tryouts without having to worry about your potential teammates trying to kill you in the process.

Harry and Hermione walked down to the quidditch pitch together, and just before he reached it, he turned to her and said, "Why am I bothering with this again? They don't want me on their team obviously, and under the circumstances, I'll hardly be able to enjoy it anyway. What if every practice and every game I'm going to have to worry about being murdered?" Harry asked her in frustration.

"Harry, look at me. You are Harry _fucking_ Potter, All-star quidditch seeker. No matter what they are thinking right now, they haven't seen you fly. Also, they are Slytherins, and once they see what you can do, they would be complete dunderheads to pass on the opportunity to be a winning team if they don't keep you around. I really think this is your chance to throw a wrench into their plans. Besides, you're a _Gryffindor_ , regardless of what the stupid sorting hat said, so _act like one_. And if that's not enough, _I've_ got your back." She said winking at him.

Harry smiled sheepishly at her and laughed at her bossy tone. She linked her arm through his and walked him down to the pitch before taking her seat up in the stands. It didn't take long for Riddle to notice her, and he flashed her a grin that made her stomach do a little flip flop before calling out for everyone's attention.

"We are here for the Slytherin quidditch team tryouts. The current positions we are looking to fill are Seeker, Beater, and Keeper. If you think you've got what we are looking for, you'll have the opportunity to show us what you can do. As captain, I'll be assessing your performances and will make the decision by tomorrow at lunch. Good luck." Tom said as he stepped back and took his position on his broom, flying up to his starting position as Chaser.

"For this match, Jones and Macmillan will be competing as seekers, Black and Rosier as beaters, and Edmund Lestrange as keeper. The rest of you will be alternating as each scrimmage ends." Abraxas called out from his position on his broom.

Harry took a deep breath and Hermione nodded towards him in encouragement. Harry mounted his broom and zoomed up into the sky. He was reminded suddenly of that day that the Order members had used polyjuice to look like him so that they could get him through the death eaters to the safety of headquarters; only now, he'd have to look for a golden snitch too. He took a moment to get his bearings and see if anyone was looking at him suspiciously until he saw a glint of gold catch his eye, and immediately zoomed after it.

Hermione watched with white knuckles as the players were zooming around in the sky. It was hard to focus because in this game there were so many things going on at once, it was hard to see where everyone was all the time. She kept her eyes trained as best she could on Tom, and Malfoy. They seemed to be the obvious aggressors. Though as she watched Harry's broom wind around other players as he raced after the snitch, she saw the threat; Macmillan, who was supposed to be competing against Harry as the seeker, had his wand out as he raced diagonally behind Harry. Hermione swished her wand and muttered an incantation that caused the snitch to zoom towards the ground sharply, and she knew Harry would go after it. Not many quidditch players could execute this move without getting seriously injured, but she knew Harry could, as he had done it before. She would never have known it was a 'thing' until she heard Ron gushing over Harry for being able to do it. A few of the Slytherins actually stopped playing to watch Harry as he dove straight at the ground at rapid speed after the snitch, and she watched as Macmillan nervously attempted to follow, glancing up at Riddle as if he was hoping Riddle would signal him to abort. When he was only a few feet from crashing into the ground, Harry turned his broom up sharply and grabbed the snitch before it could zip away from him. There was an incredible crash behind him as Macmillan hadn't been able to pull his broom up in time and hit the ground moving at a pretty fast speed. Harry turned and touched down so he could run over to check on Macmillan. Tom and Abraxas followed shortly behind. Tom ordered Malfoy to get Macmillan to the hospital wing, and then strolled over to Harry.

"Impressive moves, Jones…was that a Wronski Feint? I've never seen anyone actually do it successfully before" Tom said a hint of awe in his voice.

"Well, Eunice Murray knew a thing or two about quidditch, and she taught me well." Harry said trying not to gloat over his performance.

"Apparently so, based on that performance, I'd say the odds are definitely in your favor for making the team." Tom told him before clapping him on the back and hurrying back to the rest of his team.

Harry looked up at Hermione, and she gave him the thumbs up sign. He'd taken her advice, and it seemed to have paid off. Tom was smart enough not to waste an opportunity to have a winning team.

After the last of the Slytherins finished their tryouts, Tom, slid back into prefect mode, and encouraged everyone to go get cleaned up and head to the hall for dinner. Hermione saw Harry walking with Euphemia Prewett back towards the castle, and decided she should also start heading back so that she could get ready for the slug club dinner date with Tom.

Hermione made her way down the stands and was taking a shortcut behind the pitch when a pair of strong arms grabbed her and shoved her down onto the ground. She hit the ground with a grunt, and rolled over quickly ready to give whoever had shoved her a piece of her mind

"Hey! What the hell…" Hermione began, but her words died in her throat as she saw Dolohov standing over her with his wand drawn, and an evil smirk plastered across his face.

"Now, what's a little mudblood bitch, like you, doing at quidditch tryouts? Hmm? Do you think that if you suck enough cock, that one of these blokes will forget how filthy your blood is and marry you?" He spat

Hermione froze, knowing that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she goaded him into it.

"What's that? Nothing to say? Usually you never shut up. I thought for sure I was going to have to shove my cock in your mouth just to shut you up, but maybe you want it somewhere else?" He asked kneeling down over her pinning her to the ground. He grasped her face roughly with his hand and licked the side of her cheek sloppily. She could smell the firewhiskey on his breath. His other hand slid down her chest and grabbed one of her breasts roughly as he attempted to pin her down and force his way between her legs.

Raw fear and panic kicked in then, and Hermione pushed him as hard as she could, though it didn't make much difference because he was so much bigger than she was. She screamed for someone to help her, and her hands clawed at the ground trying to find her wand. Hot tears sprang into her eyes as she heard him opening his belt, knowing full well he had every intention of raping her.

A moment later, Dolohov was kicked off of her roughly with a boot to his face. Hermione struggled to sit up, and watched in shock as Tom knelt over Dolohov, and punched him repeatedly in the face. A few moments later, he finally stilled, breathing heavily, looking down at Dolohov's prone body. he sneered down at him and whispered in a low threatening voice, " _If you ever disobey me again, you will wish for death_." before he stood up, and kicked him once more in the ribs.

Tom turned around and looked at Hermione then, she was still sitting on the ground, her eyes wide with shock, her face tear-stained and smudged with dirt.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked her in a voice so soft, and gentle, it was hard to imagine he was the same person she just watched beat someone half to death in front of her.

"He didn't…He was going to…oh God!" Hermione sobbed grabbing the front of Tom's shirt and burying her face in his neck as he knelt down in front of her. He froze, letting her cling to him, not sure what he should do with his hands, and finally draped them around her shoulders gently.

"Lets get you back to the castle" he said soothingly as he slipped one of his arms under her bent knees and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck for support and kept her face nestled into his chest as he carried her.

As they approached the entrance hall, Hermione lifted her head and pleaded, "Not the common room; I'm not ready to talk to anyone…" she asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Then where…" Tom started to ask before she replied quickly, "Seventh floor."

He looked at her and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow and moved forward towards the stairs, "And may I ask what is on the seventh floor?" he asked quizzically.

"The room of requirement" she said softly, not caring much at the moment about protecting her delicately crafted story after she'd nearly been raped, timeline be damned.

His eyes widened momentarily. He'd heard about the room, of course, but in the six years he had been attending Hogwarts, no one to his knowledge had found it as of yet.

When they reached the seventh floor corridor, he set her down in front of a large expanse of wall, and she paced back and forth in front of it, obviously in deep thought. A moment later, a door materialized in the wall, and she opened it, and pulled him inside with her.

He looked around in awe. The room itself was cozy, with a fire crackling merrily in the hearth, but there was something… _odd_.

"Hermione, why are we in the Gryffindor common room?" he asked looking around at the maroon and gold tapestries that lined the walls.

"We're not…oh. _Oh_." She said as her hand flew to her mouth, and she looked at him with a look of panic on her face.

"Clearly, you have some explaining to do." He said chuckling as he sat down next to her on the well worn sofa.

"None of this was supposed to happen. How could I be expected to keep this up after…after…" She trailed off, not needing to say the words. She dropped her head into her hands and her shoulders shook as she cried. A box of tissues materialized on the coffee table just in front of her, and she grabbed a tissue to dab her eyes. After a few moments of just sobbing, she finally seemed to regain enough of her composure to speak.

"Thank you" she whispered finally looking up and meeting his eyes. "If you hadn't been there…"

She didn't need to finish her sentence, and she saw him look away from her then, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed back the rage that was bubbling up inside at the reminder of Dolohov's disobedience.

"You have to promise me, Hermione, that you won't tell anyone about this… _ever_." He said suddenly.

She stilled her movements, and looked at him questioningly.

"Tom, it wasn't your fault; Dolohov is the one who…" she started to say until he interrupted her

"No. _Promise me_ , Hermione."

"But what if he…" she began to say

"He won't. I can promise you, that he will never hurt you again." He said seriously, and he grasped her small hand in his.

She looked at his hand then, and saw his bloodied knuckles from where he had punched Dolohov.

Before he could pull his hand away, she healed the cuts on his hands and muttered a cleansing spell to get rid of the blood. She seemed to be staring at his hand for longer than necessary until she finally looked up at him and just simply said, "I promise."

He smiled at her then, and said, "You should probably wash your face, _someone_ will think _I_ hurt you." He said clearly meaning Harry.

At his words, a basin, pitcher, and a face cloth appeared on the table, and she picked up the washcloth taking his advice.

"So…I don't suppose you're going to tell me why someone who only transferred here yesterday knows where the room of requirement is?" he asked changing the subject

She winced. He noticed.

"I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you that Eunice Murray told me?" she asked still wincing. She had never been a very good liar. At least with their initial backstory, she had time to rehearse it, but now that things were coming apart at the seems, she was struggling to come up with convincing answers.

"And am I to believe that Miss Murrary also told you in painstaking detail what the Gryffindor common room looks like?" He asked once again raising his eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"Yes?" she asked trying to suppress the urge to laugh hysterically knowing how badly she was caught.

"Hermione, Eunice Murrary was a Hufflepuff." He said flatly.

At this Hermione snorted and she doubled over in laughter. She couldn't keep up the lie anymore, she was totally caught and she knew it. She really did want to care about the timeline, and about how much of a monster he would turn out to be in the future, and how disappointed Harry would be when he found out that his arch enemy was about to find out the truth, but after everything she'd just been through, she really didn't have it in her to care anymore.

She could always swear him to secrecy. Maybe an unbreakable vow?

"Is your name even Hermione?" He asked her quickly becoming impatient

"Yes it is. Are you comfortable? I suggest you get comfortable if not, because this is kind of a long story." She told him wringing her hands together nervously.

"Like…how long are we talking?" he asked

"Well, lets just say that if someone wanted to write it all down, it would take at least seven books." She said laughing again nervously.

He looked at her blankly, and then noticed the time.

"As much as I am _dying_ to hear this, and you _will_ tell me, we will be late to Slughorn's dinner party if we don't head back right now and change. But, the moment it's over, you'll tell me everything." He said seriously holding out his hand to help her up.

"I suppose there's no getting out of it now, is there." She said exasperatedly.

"Are you saying you want to back out of our date?" he said imitating being stabbed in the heart.

"No! No…not that, I meant that there was no getting out of telling you everything." She said sheepishly.

He smirked at her then, knowing he had her. "Not a chance."

She took his hand then, and led them back down to the dungeons to get changed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: thanks again for the reviews! Things are starting to get interesting now!**

 **Chapter 7 – The Slug Club**

Tom left Hermione in the Slytherin common room, with the promise that he would meet her back there in half hour so they could head to Slughorn's office together. Just as she was about to head towards the girl's dormitory, Harry walked into the common room and his eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Hermione, Your advice today was brilliant! You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I actually impressed Riddle..." He said laughing at how ludicrous the statement was.

"Harry, I only have a few minutes before I need to meet Tom for the Slug Club dinner, but I am glad everything went well." She said hoping he wouldn't notice that she was trying to rush him off.

"Hermione…is something wrong?" he asked looking at her curiously

 _Shit_. She promised Tom she wouldn't tell anyone…which she had to imagine included Harry.

"Fine, why?" she asked a little too quickly, looking everywhere but his eyes. Merlin, she really was a terrible liar.

"You seem…weird." He said looking her over as if he could figure out what was bothering her.

"It's just been a long day is all, and I still have this insipid dinner party to go to…which reminds me, I have to go get ready. Can we talk later?" she really didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she did have to get ready, and she was not in the mood to be interrogated at the moment.

"Sure…I guess I'll see you later then." He said, still looking at her in a way that said, ' _something is up, and I know you are not telling me what it is'_

She gave him a small smile and turned towards the girl's dormitory to take a quick shower and change her clothes.

Twenty minutes later, she walked into the common room to see Tom standing by the hearth, immaculately dressed in his usual school robes. He looked up at her as she walked into the room, giving her what she felt was a genuine smile. He walked towards her twirling something between his fingers. When she looked down to see what it was, she watched as he waved his hand over the small twig he'd been twirling, transfiguring it wandlessly into a perfect red rose. He held it out to her, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Shall we go?" he asked her offering his arm.

She threaded her arm through his and gave him a shy smile holding the rose up to her nose. It smelled as beautiful as it looked.

When they reached Slughorn's office, the door was yanked open and Slughorn greeted them over enthusiastically before ushering them inside

"Tom, my boy! And Miss Jones! So pleased you both could make it, I say, my two star students make a lovely couple! Come in, come in…Refreshments are in the usual place, Tom knows where I keep the good stuff, of course." He said while winking at Tom.

Hermione leaned towards Tom, close enough to whisper in his ear, "It seems our illustrious professor has already been partaking of ' _the good stuff'_ " Hermione said chuckling.

A deep chuckle reverberated through his chest, and Hermione was reluctant to pull away. She recalled how comforting his scent was earlier that day when he'd carried her, and she had her face buried in his neck…it wasn't cologne, or soap, it was just a scent that was uniquely Tom; masculine and powerful…and she _craved_ it.

"Of that, I have no doubt" he responded and led her inside towards Slughorn's liquor cabinet.

"After the day I've had, I think a drink would be welcome" Hermione said

Tom looked over the contents, and chose a bottle of pinot noir. Red wine would be a good choice, it would calm her nerves. Fire whiskey on the other hand, would probably be a bit much for her, especially in the state she was in, and he didn't think getting her intoxicated would do anything for either of their reputations.

He handed her a glass of wine, and they made their way over to a cluster of other students who were standing around chatting before the meal was served. The tall blond ravenclaw, Isadora Selwyn, rushed over to Tom, completely ignoring Hermione's presence. She was so obviously trying to flirt with him, it was pathetic how transparent she was. The way she stood there, practically draping herself over Tom and giving this fake annoying giggle whenever he said something witty was enough to make Hermione want to vomit. Hermione just rolled her eyes at Isadora and swirled her wine around her glass before taking a rather large gulp.

"Easy there, Jones" a silky voice said from behind her.

Hermione spun around quickly and came face to face with Abraxas Malfoy.

"I thank you to mind your own business, Malfoy." Hermione said in a clipped tone.

"Tsk tsk…One may think that you are upset…or jealous perhaps?" Abraxas said giving her a knowing smile.

"As if. The day I act like that blond twit is the day I sprout wings." Hermione spat.

"And why, may I ask, would you ever be expected to act like Isadora?" Abraxas asked her, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

"Well, if those are the types of girls he likes, well, he's sadly mistaken if he thinks I would fawn over him like that." Hermione said once again rolling her eyes in Isadora's direction.

Malfoy smirked. Hermione Jones was jealous of Isadora Selwyn…which meant, that she did indeed fancy Tom.

"As much as it pains me to say it, since Isadora clearly comes from a family of more noble breeding than yourself and is far more worthy of Tom's attention in my opinion, for some unfathomable reason, he prefers… _you_." Malfoy said making a face as if the words alone made him feel ill.

Hermione tried to hide her smirk at his discomfort. As much as his words were insulting about her breeding, she enjoyed his discomfort at having to admit that Tom seemed interested in her regardless. Now what to do about the blond twit…

"If you'll excuse me Abraxas, I have neglected my date for long enough." She said as she finished the last of her wine and set the empty glass on a table before striding over to where Tom and Isadora were chatting.

"Am I interrupting?" Hermione asked in a saccharine sweet voice lacing her arm through Tom's while glaring at Isadora.

"Actually…" Isadora began to say before Tom cut her off

"Not at all, Hermione, come with me, there is someone I'd like you to meet." Tom said in his most polite tone before whisking her away from Isadora before the two girls could make a scene.

"Of course" Hermione replied politely while throwing an evil smirk over her shoulder at Isadora.

Hermione once again turned to Tom, "Who am I meeting?" she asked him once he had maneuvered her into a darkened corner of the office.

"No one, I just said that to get you away from her before you did something you might regret." Tom said smirking at her

"Oh, so you think I would regret pulling her bleach blond hair out, do you?" Hermione said returning his smirk with a look of defiance in her eyes

"And why would you want to do a thing like that in the first place?" he asked her taking a step closer to her, placing his fingers under her chin forcing her to look at him.

Hermione blushed at his implication, knowing he had her right where he wanted her.

"Because." Was all she could manage to say. she refused to admit to him that she had been jealous of that cow.

"So let me get this straight; and please correct me if I have it wrong…you wanted to cause her bodily harm… _Because_. Do I have that right?" He teased her, causing her to look away while biting her lip.

"That sounds about right." Hermione snapped pulling her chin out of his grasp.

"Hermione…" He said gently, willing her to look up at him once more

"What?!" she glared at him and folded her arms across her chest.

"You don't need to be jealous of her, I'm not going anywhere." Tom said smoothly stepping towards her again, tilting his face down towards hers so that he could place a light kiss on her jaw.

Hermione's eyes slipped shut at his closeness, his scent enveloping her and making her heart beat frantically in her chest.

"I didn't say I was jealous." she whispered against his cheek

He didn't respond except to run his hand along her waist possessively while dropping another kiss on her collar bone.

"You didn't have to." He whispered before stepping back from her once more, smirking. Her cheeks were flushed and she was practically panting with desire.

"Oh, and don't forget, we still have some things to _discuss_ later." He said silkily before pulling her back towards the group of gathered students who had begun to take their seats at the table.

Dinner passed by much as she had remembered from the few slug club dinners she had attended before, where Professor Slughorn would single out students and gush over their well-known family connections, or their top marks, or some other means of brown nosing. It was pathetic, really. When the party drew to a close, Tom escorted her out after bidding the Professor a good evening. She had thought that he was escorting her back to the Slytherin common room, however, he took an unexpected detour, that led her down the stair cases to the second floor.

"Tom, where are we going?" She asked him, a sense of dread beginning to form in her stomach.

He didn't respond, so she began to pull at his hand violently when she saw he was pulling her into the girl's bathroom. He was going to take her into the Chamber of Secrets.

"No! You can't! I won't go! Please!" she struggled against him, and he had no choice to cast a silencing charm on her and pick her up and carry her in. He had never told her about the chamber, certainly not its secret entrance, but clearly, somehow, she knew about it.

Once inside the bathroom, he warded the door and cast a silencing charm on the room, then he set her down and lifted the silencing charm he had placed on her.

"-you think for one second I am going in there with that damned _snake_ …" she ranted before he covered her mouth with his hand.

"Hermione, how do you know where I am taking you?" he asked her seriously grabbing her chin roughly between his fingers forcing her to look at him.

"It's the Chamber of Secrets. You're the heir of Slytherin." She said indignantly daring him to deny it.

"Yes, but how did _you_ know about it?" he asked again, with an angry look on his face

"I know, because…damn it all to hell. Harry and I we're…we're…" She struggled angrily not wanting to tell him the truth, but seeing no way out of it.

"Yes? You're what?" he demanded

"We're from the future. All of this is already known in our time." She finally said dejectedly.

He stood still, staring at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

"How?" was all he could manage to ask, his eyes still wide with disbelief.

"It was an accident. I had been using a time turner to take extra classes…Oh, don't look at me like that, it was approved by my head of house, anyway, Harry was arguing with me about it, and tried to take it from me, and well…somehow we must have set it off in our struggle because before we knew it, we were in 1943." She trailed off wringing her hands together nervously.

"A time-turner." was all he said, still trying to process what she had just told him.

"Yes. Obviously, it was an accident. As you may know, time-turners don't allow the user to move forward in time, only back. When I had been using it for classes, I was only going back an hour here or an hour there to take a second class, the end result was always that I was back to where I should have been after waiting the hour. But now…" once again she shrugged her shoulders not able to admit aloud that they had no way to get back.

"So you're stuck here then?" he asked

"So it would seem." She said as she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

He rubbed his hand over his face processing all that she told him.

"So you have heard of me? In the future, I mean?" he asked suddenly, causing her to meet his eyes.

"Yes, but I can't risk destroying the time line. It's dangerous to meddle with time, Tom."

"I could make you tell me, you know…" he said as he stepped closer to her

"Trust me, I really don't think you _want_ to know." She said as she massaged her temples.

"I think I do…clearly, something must've happened to me if you are so keen on keeping it from me." he replied

She laughed bitterly, "If that isn't the understatement of the year…"

"Let me ask you this; what harm could it do, to destroy the time line that according to you, doesn't seem to be very pleasant at all?" He asked seriously.

Hermione sighed. Truthfully, she hadn't actually thought about it much. She always took what Professor Dumbledore had said to heart, not really ever questioning it. Honestly, why would anyone ever question _Professor Dumbledore_?

"Honestly? I don't know. It would be unpredictable at best, and potentially disasterous at worst. If I told you about… _certain things_ …you could use that knowledge to the detriment of many…that would be something that I would have to live with. On the other hand, if you used that knowledge to change things for the better, then…maybe things would turn out better than expected." She said while she seemed to be mulling it over in her mind.

"Look, before you say anymore, I think we should hold this discussion in a more private setting. No doubt someone heard that racket you made out in the corridor and will come looking. No one will be able to disturb us down in the chamber." He said assuredly.

"What about the Basilisk?" She said her eyes growing as wide as saucers.

"What about it?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm a… _Muggleborn_. Won't it try to kill me?" She asked willing her voice not to tremble. She knew if he wanted to kill her she more than likely would already be dead.

"It only comes when it's called. You're safe with me." He said smirking at her, enjoying the power he had over her in that moment. He extended his hand to help her up.

Hermione took a deep breath and took his hand, "Okay then. Merlin help me, but I trust you. Please don't make me regret it." She said as he helped her to stand, the corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile.

He turned away from her, facing the row of sinks, specifically the one that had small serpents etched into it, and began to speak to it in Parseltongue.

Hermione's mouth dropped open, as she watched him. He stood with such calm focus, his hand raised towards the sink, and the words leaving his lips in a seductive hiss

The sinks suddenly began to open outwards to reveal a passageway that led directly to the chamber. He turned to look at her once more, and saw the blush on her cheeks and how she was delicately nibbling on her bottom lip.

"What?" he asked in confusion as he once again held out his hand to her.

"Can you do that anytime you want, or only when its necessary?" she asked breathlessly.

He furrowed his brow in confusion, and said, "I can speak Parseltongue whenever I want to, I guess…it's really no different than speaking any other language…why?"

"I just…that was…" she once again felt herself blushing furiously, "It was hot." She admitted averting her eyes and trying hard to suppress the laughter at her admission.

His eyes widened momentarily, and then a predatory smirk formed on his face while he urged her to follow him, "I'll have to remember that." Was all he said as he led her down into the darkness of the chamber.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I love sassy Hermione, she's my hero. Also - Beware of (translation: Enjoy) the smut in this chapter! Oh, and for the "bookshelf scene" (you'll know it when you read it) listen to the song "Physical (you're so) by Nine Inch Nails on Youtube...that is what I was listening to when I wrote that scene!**

 **Chapter 8 – The Truth shall set you Free**

Hermione followed Tom through the darkened tunnels that twisted through the bowels of Hogwarts until they reached a large cavernous room that was lined with statues of serpents. At one end of the room, stood a large bust of Salazar Slytherin carved into the stone wall.

"This is…" Hermione began looking around the large room

"Impressive, I know." Tom said, a hint of awe still in his voice.

He continued walking, heading towards an area in the wall where he pressed his palm. A section of the wall slid away to reveal a large sitting room. She entered the room behind him, and the door slid back into place.

"So do you take all your dates here?" she teased, watching a faint blush tinge his cheeks

"Actually, you'd be the first." He admitted sheepishly, and quickly tried to bring the focus back to why they were there.

"I believe you were about to tell me what happens to me in the future." He said smoothly

"Before I tell you that, I need something from you." She said boldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I hardly think you are in the position to make demands, Hermione…" he retorted.

It's only fair, Tom. I am trusting you with a lot of sensitive information here, I would have to be an idiot not to have some sort of agreement with you first." Hermione said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What then?" he asked impatiently.

"An unbreakable vow." She said flatly.

"No. Surely you didn't think I would agree to that." Tom scoffed.

"I do. Because if you don't, I'm not telling you anything, _willingly_." Hermione said smirking at him.

"Or I could just torture you…you would tell me everything I want to know. Why should I bother making the vow?" he asked in irritation

She held up her hand and said, "Look, I know you are a Legillimens, and that you could easily take the information from my mind or use the cruciatus if you wanted to, but I am _asking_ that you will instead _trust me_ and really listen to what I have to say. Everything I am about to tell you could drastically change _your_ future. Look at this way, I'm not going to ask you to make a vow that would prohibit you from doing anything that you would have done in the original timeline anyway. It's just an insurance policy that you won't do it _sooner_. "

He stared at her expressionlessly seeming to contemplate her words.

"That is my final offer. Take it, or we can duel again." She smirked at him

"Fine. The only reason I am even agreeing to this is because I have plans for you that involve you being in one piece..." he said smirking, "Now give me your hand." He said exasperatedly.

Hermione smirked at his insinuation, and clasped her hand in his. At the contact, she felt a jolt of desire run through her. He signaled her to start the vow.

"I, Hermione Jean Granger, vow to tell you, Tom Marvolo Riddle everything I know of your future, in exchange for the promise that you will not use this information to cause any of the events to occur before they are meant to. I also ask that you vow to keep all information shared strictly confidential."

"What are you a Barrister, now too?" He chuckled and she glared at him.

"I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, agree not to use the information provided by Hermione Jean Granger in regards to my future to cause any events to occur before they are meant to. Also, I vow to keep all shared information strictly confidential." He said grimacing as he watched the silvery thread leave her wand and wrap around their entwined hands before disappearing into their skin.

"There. Now start talking." He said impatiently.

"Well I guess I should start at the beginning then, and tell you what I know…" Hermione said taking a deep breath.

He sat on the leather couch in front of her. _This should be interesting…_

"You are the son of Merope Gaunt, and the last living relative of Salazar Slytherin. She died during child birth, and you were raised in a muggle orphanage. You opened the chamber of Secrets for the first time this year. You have followers that you call the knights of Walpurgis, and you meet periodically during late evening hours when everyone is asleep in the Slytherin common room. You condone pureblood supremacy, even though you are a half-blood. Am I hitting the nail on the head?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

Tom looked amused, and simply stated, "You could have picked up this information from one of the Slytherins…there are a few that come to mind that are notorious for being loose-lipped no matter how many times I _discipline them_. Besides, I don't see how any of this pertains to my unpleasant future."

"Okay then…well how about this? You will learn how to make horcruxes this year, and you will make 2 of them before you graduate Hogwarts. Your diary will become one, and it is created after you unleash the Basilisk on the school to kill _mudbloods_ and it kills a student. Technically, I think in just a few months from now, actually. Then, you will confront your father, Tom Riddle Sr, during the summer break and you will use his death to create your second horcrux from the Gaunt family ring, which you will steal from your uncle. Am I getting warmer, Tom?"

Tom's eyes widened in shock…he had only just started thinking about creating horcruxes, and he hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone. He hadn't even gotten around to asking Slughorn about them yet…

"Shall I keep going? There is quite a bit more…"

"Does it work?" He sat forward, looking at her intensely.

"If by working, you mean that it makes you immortal, then yes… _technically_." She said cryptically.

"What does _technically_ mean? Either it works or it doesn't…" Tom asked impatiently.

"Well, considering that making horcruxes is very dark magic, you must realize that there is a steep price to be paid…even more than tearing apart your soul, Tom." Hermione explained.

"What is the price, Hermione? What happens to me?" he asked breathlessly, unsure if he even wanted to know at this point.

"Once you make them, if something happens to your current body, and it _will_ , you will not come back the same way." Hermione told him as she bit her lip and shifted her eyes.

"What will I come back like then?" his eyes growing wide as an uneasiness settled within him.

"Let's just say, that as long as you find snakes physically attractive, and suddenly find noses over-rated, you should have no problem. Oh, and there is also the small detail of your sanity pretty much not returning along with your body."

He stood from the couch and pushed her against the wall roughly.

"Show me." He demanded

She was surprised for a moment that he hadn't just invaded her mind by force, since he certainly had the ability to do so…he was _asking_ her. Seeing how unsettled he seemed to be at what she was telling him, she decided to comply, because maybe once he saw what he would become, he'll rethink some of those decisions.

Hermione nodded, and looked into his eyes, granting him permission.

"Legillimens!" he whispered as he slipped into her mind easily.

He watched a memory play out of Hermione at age 11, sitting in the great hall being sorted into Gryffindor. _That explains the Gryffindor common room then…_

Next was a memory of Hermione walking around the second floor corridor of Hogwarts in her second year using a mirror to look around corners. _He had the feeling this was how she knew about the Basilisk. The chamber must've been opened again in the future. Interesting…_

Then he saw a memory of Hermione using the time turner to take extra classes. So she hadn't been lying about the time turner… _She was clever though, if he had access to one of those, he would've done the exact same thing._

Then there was a memory of Hermione watching some sort of tournament, when suddenly Harry appeared clutching the body of another student as he was screaming ' _He's back! Voldemort's back!"_ Tom mentally stiffened at the name. He had already chosen that name for himself, though he hadn't used it yet.

Then a memory of Hermione and Harry, along with several others he did not recognize in a strange place. He could only conclude it was somewhere deep within the ministry, from the descriptions had had heard of the place. There were masked wizards attacking them, saying something about a prophecy…He watched as the masked wizards attacked, and saw that Hermione was hit by a nasty slicing hex. _Wait a minute…he recognized that wizard by the scar on his chin and his bad teeth…Dolohov_.

Then he saw what he had been searching for. Within that same memory, he saw from what appeared to be Hermione's perspective, Harry standing over a dark haired woman, who he had at wand point, when suddenly Voldemort… _himself_ …appeared behind Harry. He had a horrific snake-like visage with crimson eyes. His thin lipless mouth was whispering to Harry to kill her. Harry turned though, and attempted to duel him instead.

Not wanting to see anymore, Tom slipped out of her mind, and stood staring at the floor. Hermione noticed his hands were actually shaking…

"Tom…" Hermione reached out to him, not sure what to do.

"Don't…" he held up a hand to stop her from attempting to comfort him. He needed a moment to process what he had just seen.

"It hasn't happened yet, you know…"Hermione said softly.

He looked up at her then, questioningly.

"If you don't want it to, that is…you haven't done the things that will lead to that future yet, Tom. It's not too late…" Hermione said gently.

"It is too late! How can you expect me to get a taste of that kind of power and not crave it? I am not meant to be some average wizard, I was meant for more…I will have power others only dreamed of!" He shouted angrily.

"You are anything _but_ average, Tom, anyone who has ever met you can see that. The strength of your magic is nearly unparalleled, you are intelligent, and you have this charisma that makes people _want_ to listen to you…You could easily be Minister of Magic if you chose to be. You don't need to be a murderer who operates on fear to achieve your goals." Hermione reasoned.

"I'm the Heir of Slytherin, Hermione…" he argued

"Then you, of all people, should be the first to admit that Slytherin's pureblood supremacy propaganda was a load of crap, Tom! You are a half blood, and one of the most powerful wizards alive! Do you think that is some sort of fluke? If you really believe that, then how do you explain me? Go ahead, I'd love to hear this…" Hermione snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot.

"Hermione, you are different…" he started to say

"No I'm not, Tom! I hate to burst your little misinformed bubble, but magic, just like eye color, is an inherited trait." Hermione sniffed.

"What are you talking about? If it's inherited, then how do you explain squibs and muggleborns?" He retorted mimicking her stance.

 _Oh…right. It was the early 1940's in the magical community, and Genetics was not quite a thing yet…_

"Recessive genes." Hermione stated simply, smirking at him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.

"Okay, sit down, Riddle. I am about to give you a crash course in Genetics." Hermione sighed. If he still believed the ' _muggleborns stole the pureblood's magic and turned them into squibs'_ theory after this, she vowed to give up.

~~{0}~~

Two hours and a very heated debate later, Tom's eyes were roving over Hermione as she paced back and forth in front of him.

"Now do you understand how and why magic occurs in some and not others?" She rubbed her temples. She had explained Mendel's experiments on pea plants so that he would understand the concept at a basic level. She had even drawn him Punnett squares for merlin's sake.

"Logically, I suppose it makes sense…"

Hermione sighed. How she wished she had access to books from her own time!

"So if you can accept that marrying into only pureblood families doesn't make a lick of difference, considering what I told you regarding spontaneous mutations, then all we have left to deal with is your irrational fear of death."

"I hardly think fearing death should be considered irrational. And I never said I was _afraid_." He said defensively.

"Well, it's a fact of life. We're all going to croak someday, and you're no different. Granted, I'd rather not go out in a way that is excruciatingly painful, but, I try not to think about it too much. Live for today and all that."

"Was that meant to be reassuring? Because it really wasn't." He said smirking at her.

"Look, Even if you make the damn horcruxes, it's only going to make things worse for you. Also, you'll _still_ die." She said with a huff of annoyance. She wasn't actually 100% on that detail, since technically, in her original timeline they hadn't actually defeated him yet, but he didn't need to know that.

She was sure the Basilisk would be slithering in to finish her off any minute if the chilling look he was giving her was anything to go by.

"Oh come on, you were a raving psychopath. Not to mention you killed Harry's parents, and attempted to kill him as an infant at one point in time, so don't look so surprised."

"Wait… _Harry's_ parents? So you two aren't related then?"

"No. Harry is a half blood, like you. He's a Potter, actually." She said smirking.

"I should have known. The lot of them all look alike." He chuckled.

"I, however, am exactly what I have claimed to be; a muggleborn. Because of you, in the future, I have to constantly worry that your death eaters will kill my family."

"A Death… _what now_?" he asked, not sure what she was talking about.

"Your Death Eaters….that is what you call your followers in the future. Since you are a raving psychopath when you come back, your mission is skewed from wanting to protect magical bloodlines to _let's kill all the muggles!."_ Hermione explained.

"I see. No wonder Harry hates me so much. It's a bit funny though…" he trailed off.

"What's funny?" Hermione asked, not sure she wanted to know what he was about to say.

"For someone who suffered so much under my apparent reign of terror, you seemed to fall for my charms pretty quickly…I wonder why that is?" he said smirking at her and stalking towards her like a predator.

Hermione's eyes widened at his insinuation, and she backed away from him subconsciously. She couldn't help it that she was a sucker for a handsome face, just look at how she swooned over Lockhart!

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean…" she stammered until she felt her back hit a bookshelf that was behind her.

"Could it have anything to do with the way I look? No…you couldn't possibly be quite that shallow…" he smirked as he pressed himself up against her, effectively trapping her against the bookcase.

"Don't be silly, your looks are only passably average at best." She retorted, cursing the quiver in her voice.

"Then why is your pulse racing?" he asked dipping his head low to brush his lips against her collar bone before looking back up to her face.

"It's racing because I don't like being cornered. Now, will you kindly back off?" she huffed.

"Interesting. Your pupils are dilated too…If I'm not mistaken, that is a sign of… _lust_. I wonder what would happen if I were to…" he trailed off, as she felt his hands brush over her thighs, sliding under her skirt.

Hermione's eyes slipped shut, and she bit her lip as her entire awareness shrunk down to his fingers skimming along the edge of her knickers.

"You know what I think?" he drawled, enjoying how responsive she was

"No…" Hermione practically panted.

"I think you want me. I think you are already wet for me. I think, that if I were to rip your knickers off and fuck you against this bookshelf, you would be begging me for more."

Hermione almost passed out with need hearing him talk to her like that. The image of him taking her against the bookshelf caused wetness to instantly pool between her thighs. His hand was so close…

"Then why don't you find out?" Hermione stared back at him challengingly. The look of shock that passed over his face at her invitation, was priceless. Clearly, he was trying to put her off balance and gain the upper hand, but before he knew what was happening, she turned the tables on him.

"Right now? I mean…here?" he sputtered.

Hermione would have laughed if she wasn't so turned on.

"Yes, Tom, I assume you don't need directions? This was your idea after all…" Hermione said in her most seductive voice, leaning forward to capture his lips in a kiss.

As soon as he felt her lips on his, all rational thought fled his brain. Before Hermione could process what was happening, she felt her feet leave the floor, and her legs wrapped around his waist. His long fingers were squeezing her backside and pulling her hips even closer to his. Her skirt had ridden up, and only her knickers and his pants separated them. Her hands grabbed his tie, struggling to remove it along with his shirt.

"Too many buttons…" she mumbled into his mouth

His deep chuckle reverberated through his chest, and to Hermione, it sounded like the naughtiest thing in the world. She finally managed to open his shirt, and she shoved it over his shoulders and ran her hands over the planes of his chest while she kissed him deeply.

His hands moved up over her hips, and he palmed her breasts through the fabric of her shirt as he leaned in and trailed kisses down her neck.

"Rip it off." She commanded.

Tom smirked against her neck ay her bossy tone, and grasped her blouse with both hands and tore it open; buttons flying everywhere. Hermione groaned as he began tracing the edge of her bra with his tongue. She rocked her hips against him, feeling his arousal and he growled at the sensation that shot through him and dug his fingers into her hips. She traced her fingers along his chest, and down his abdomen until she reached his belt. She opened it and pulled it off, tossing it on the floor before moving back to the button of his pants and flicking it open. She slipped her hand into his pants and ran her fingers along his length, eliciting a groan from him. She pushed his pants and boxers down over his hips, and without warning, he tore her knickers off as he had her blouse, and plunged into her in one quick thrust causing her to cry out and grasp the bookshelf above her head for support. His eyes darkened to the point that they looked almost black, and he pounded into her relentlessly, enjoying the way she had sucked her lower lip into her mouth and was biting down on it to keep from crying out.

When her eyes slipped shut he said sharply, "Look at me. I want you to know exactly who is making you feel like this."

She moaned at his brusque command and snapped her eyes to his. She didn't care if he used legillimancy on her in that moment, because all she could focus on was the feeling of his cock slamming in to her over and over again, and the delicious friction that was building up between them. She could feel her release was only moments away as the feeling of it built deep within her threatening to explode at any moment. She felt him slip into her mind, and it heightened her pleasure even more knowing he was about to feel her orgasm from her perspective. She could feel him growing harder inside of her, and he slipped one of his hands between them and as his fingers brushed over her clit, she clutched his shoulders and cried out as she found her release. He let out an animalistic growl and then swore under his breath as both hers and his own pleasure washed over him in waves. He was panting against her neck now, as she unwrapped her legs from his waist, slowly lowering her feet to the floor. He pulled his pants back up onto his hips, not bothering to fasten them and he chuckled deeply as he leaned his forehead against hers and twirled a lock of her hear in his long fingers.

"You, Hermione, are a dirty girl…" he smirked at her as he watched a flush rise in her cheeks.

She was standing on shaky legs, still trying to catch her breath, enjoying the way Tom's eyes were still darting to the black bra she still wore.

"Me? This was your idea." She shot back as she reached up and brushed a lock of his black hair from his forehead.

"That may be, but it was you who wanted me to rip your clothes off..." He teased

"True, although something tells me you enjoyed it as much as I did." She smirked at him

Hermione watched him as he was fastening his pants and couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up in her chest.

"What's so funny?" he asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow towards her.

"Your basilisk was just in my Chamber of Secrets…" she was laughing harder now, and she saw his lips twitch at her incredibly bad joke.

"Making bad puns are we now? If you don't behave I'll sick my basilisk on you again…"

Hermione froze for a moment, her eyes widened in surprise, before she burst out laughing again at the poor taste of that particular joke.

He realized what he had said, and couldn't help but to laugh along with her.

"Well, far be it for me to keep your basilisk locked away…that really is a crime if you ask me." She said pulling him close once more.

"A crime, huh?" he said smirking against her lips as he kissed her.

"A felony, more like." She said as she kissed him back

"Well, we can't have that, now, can we…" he teased as he guided her towards the sofa.

It was three a.m. before either of them made it back to the Slytherin dormitories that night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you all for the continued reviews! This story has been a blast to write, and I am having way too much fun with these characters! Keep the reviews coming! Oh - and in the quidditch scene in chapter 9, I totally had "Holding out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler running through my mind...feel free to youtube it for added fun!**

 **Chapter 9 –Hey Jealousy**

The next morning, breakfast in the Great Hall could be described as awkward at best. Somehow, in the span of less than twenty-four hours, she had gone from being carefully suspicious of Tom Riddle to letting him shag her senseless against a bookcase in the chamber of secrets. The worst part though, was that Harry was now sitting next to her, and she couldn't look him in the eye. Especially not while a young dark lord was sitting across from her, sensually eating a piece of fruit in a way that looked borderline obscene.

"Hermione, you look tired, did you even sleep last night?" Harry asked her, a look of concern written on his face.

Hermione's eyes snapped over at Tom unconsciously, and he was smirking at her behind his coffee cup.

"Not much, I was studying and I lost track of time." Hermione lied.

"He's right, Hermione, you must've been studying really hard last night, you look positively exhausted." Tom said innocently, and Hermione shot him a glare.

"What can I say, some subjects really are just so enjoyable that I just can't seem to get enough." Hermione said smirking at him.

"Hermione, that sounds pornographic. Only you could think of books that way." Harry laughed, and Tom spit out his coffee.

"Well, I'm off to divination. I'll see you later." Harry said and squeezed her shoulder before striding out of the hall.

Tom narrowed his eyes as he watched the intimate gesture between them, and a spike of jealousy ran through him. Even though he had shagged Hermione senseless the night before, he couldn't ignore the easy familiarity that still seemed very much apparent between the two. When he had thought they were siblings, it was of no consequence, but now that he knew the truth, he didn't like it one bit.

"We should get to Potions." Tom said falling back into what Hermione liked to think of as his ' _authoritative prefect voice'_. She furrowed her brow before she brushed it off, and stood to follow him out of the great hall.

As they walked through the corridor, Hermione had to jog to catch up with his long strides.

"Is everything alright? You seem… _odd_." Hermione asked him

Tom glanced sideways at her and raised an eyebrow at her, "Why should anything be wrong?" he replied, a hint of iciness in his tone.

"Well, I don't know…you just seem rather frosty towards me all of the sudden." She explained, knowing there was something he wasn't telling her.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He bit out.

Having been used to boys who would rather swallow their own tongue than tell someone what's bothering them, Hermione sighed. She spotted an empty classroom, and before he could stop her, she pulled him inside and warded the door.

"Ok, what is wrong?" She asked pointedly, putting her hands on her hips and looking at him expectantly.

"Hermione, we don't have time for this, potions starts in ten minutes." he said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, then you have ten minutes to tell me what happened at breakfast that got your wand in a knot." Hermione said bossily, crossing her arms over her chest.

A dark look passed over Tom's face. How dare she talk to him like that?

"I don't take orders from a _mudblood_." Tom spat, a look of fury twisting his features.

Hermione shouldn't have been surprised, knowing who he was, but white hot fury still bubbled up in her as she took a step towards him menacingly until they were nose to nose.

"I don't seem to recall you having any problem taking orders from a mudblood _last night_. If you think for one second, that I'm going to let you talk to me like that, you have another thing coming." She said acidly.

He raised his wand to her, expecting her to become afraid as anyone else would have done, however, his eyes widened when he felt her wand pressing into his stomach.

"Now, I believe you were about to tell me what your problem is." Hermione said with mock sweetness.

Despite his previous anger, Tom couldn't help but laugh. It seemed he had severely underestimated her. Truthfully, it pleased him that she didn't seem threatened by him. It was actually refreshing, considering every other person who knew him was terrified of him.

"Something funny?" Hermione asked, still pressing her wand into his stomach.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Tom said silkily smirking at her, not the least bit intimidated by her.

"I would, actually." Hermione said as she leaned in towards him, his scent enveloping her, making it hard to focus on anything but his mouth.

"You're feisty. I like it." He said leaning towards her, brushing his lips over hers in the lightest of touches.

Hermione inhaled sharply and wanted nothing more than to pull his head down to deepen the kiss.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, the way you were acting earlier, it's almost as if you were _jealous._ " Hermione breathed against his lips.

"And if I was?" he said so quietly against her lips, that she almost missed it.

Hermione felt a small smile form on her lips, "I would tell you there's no reason to be. Though Harry and I are not related, I can't think of him as anything more than a brother." Hermione said finally lowering her wand and pulling his head towards hers in a deep kiss.

Tom groaned and pulled her closer letting his hands roam over her back and down to the curve of her hip.

Finally, Hermione broke the kiss as he continued to trail small kisses over her neck

"We really have to get to potions." Hermione said putting her hands on his chest and pushing him back.

Tom growled in frustration and looked down. He was not about to walk into class with a raging hard on.

Hermione giggled, "Try thinking about something else." Hermione offered unhelpfully.

He just glared at her, and inhaled sharply through his nose, "Like what?" he spat.

"You know, I heard Professor Merrythought was caught by a prefect sneaking out of Headmaster Dippet's private quarters the other night…I wonder what ever could they have been doing?" Hermione snickered as a look of horror crossed Tom's handsome face, and the tent in his pants settled back down.

"Problem solved! Let's get to class." Hermione chuckled and grabbed his hand pulling him along with her.

"Don't think I'm not going to get you back for that." Tom hissed still trying to scrub the image of their ancient defense professor and Headmaster shagging from his brain.

~~{0}~~

At lunch, Tom had posted the list of those who had made the Slytherin quidditch team. Harry had of course made seeker, following his brilliant move during try outs the previous day.

Hermione was already seated next to Tom at the Slytherin table when she saw Harry walking into the great hall, arm in arm with none other than Euphemia Prewett. Hermione watched as he led her towards the Gryffindor table, and a blush tinged his cheeks as she kissed him on the cheek before taking her seat. Harry hadn't noticed the glare that Fleamont Potter was shooting him. _This wasn't good_.

As Harry made his way over to the Slytherin table, he took the empty seat across from Hermione and Tom, still faintly blushing.

"Harry, was that Effy Prewett?" Hermione asked casually wanting to see if Harry had any idea who she was.

"Yeah, she's in a few of my classes." Harry answered shyly, clearly trying to change the subject.

"I see." Was all Hermione said, though it came out much more frosty than intended..

Harry noticed Hermione's reaction, and a thought crossed his mind; Hermione seemed… _jealous_. This could be exactly what he needed in order to help her realize her true feelings for him. He would play it cool, and continue spending time with Effy in front of her, until she got so jealous that she confronted him, and then he would make his move. It was brilliant; a bit Slytherin, or rather something like what Ron would do, but still brilliant.

"I'm thinking of asking her to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend." Harry said nonchalantly, and Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Tom watched their exchange closely, confused by Hermione's reaction to Harry's obvious flirting with Effy Prewett. Hadn't she just told him that she only thought of Harry like a brother? Either she had been lying, or she didn't want to admit that maybe she did have feelings for Harry after all. Despite Hermione's earlier assurances, he felt his mood darken.

"Jones, I hope you're ready for quidditch practice tonight, we have our first game on Saturday morning against Gryffindor." Tom said a hint of coldness once again seeping into his tone.

Hermione shot a bewildered look at Tom. _What was his problem now?_ If she hadn't been in the middle of the great hall, she would have banged her head on the table. Merlin this man had more emotional baggage than anyone she'd ever met.

"Tom, I'm sure Harry will prove that he more than earned his place on the team." Hermione said in Harry's defense. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small smirk on Harry's face.

"Yes, well, don't make me regret it, Jones." Tom said icily as he stood from the table and strode from the great hall.

"What's got his wand in a knot?" Harry asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples, "who knows. I'm pretty sure if you look up bi-polar in the dictionary, there'll be a picture of Tom Riddle right next to it."

Harry laughed despite himself. He still didn't trust any of the Slytherins, especially Tom Riddle, but since he was stuck here, he wasn't about to let them ruin the one thing he did truly enjoy; quidditch.

~~{0}~~

Hermione climbed up into the stands of the quidditch pitch, despite the fact that she would much rather be spending time in the library. Even though she had told Tom where she and Harry were really from, she still didn't know what his intentions were. He seemed to take in everything that she had told him the previous night, but he hadn't actually told her that he would change any of his plans, and she certainly did not trust any of his cronies. With that thought in mind, she thought it best to keep an eye on Harry during practice to make sure they wouldn't try anything.

Initially, things were pretty uneventful. The quaffle was being tossed back and forth by the chasers as they worked on their passes, while the beaters flanked them keeping the bludgers off. Harry independently zig-zagged through all of it, with the single purpose of catching the snitch. Suddenly, as Abraxas threw a pass to Tom, Harry zipped between them accidentally knocking the quaffle away from Tom. Abraxas dove after the quaffle, but Tom took off after Harry. Hermione watched in confusion, wondering what was happening when she saw Tom pull alongside Harry, and forcefully slam into his side. Harry looked over at him in shock, and an angry look crossed his face before he jerked his broom and slammed into Tom in retaliation. Both the quaffle and the snitch seemed to be forgotten, as Tom chased after Harry and they attempted to knock each other off of their brooms. By now, the rest of the team had stopped, and all sat on their brooms watching the power struggle that was taking place between the two of them. Hermione could hear Harry shouting at Tom, and Tom shouting back at Harry. This wasn't good.

Not knowing what else to do, Hermione stood from her seat in the stands and pulled out her wand, " _Immobulis_!" she shouted, watching as Harry and Tom's forms froze in place. She marched angrily out of the stands and onto the pitch, noting that the other players had now landed and stood by snickering at the two wizards who were still glaring at each other in midair. Once again she flicked her wand, and shouted " _Levicorpus_!" at the two frozen figures, using her wand to guide them down, she stood in front of them angrily with her hands on her hips, in her best imitation of Mrs. Weasely.

"What the devil has gotten into you two? In case you haven't noticed, you're on the same damn team! Now, if you can both agree to act like adults, I'll release you. Honestly, you're both acting like children!" Hermione chided and flicking her wand once more saying, "finite".

Harry and Tom still stood facing each other and glaring, until Harry finally broke the silence.

"Do you have some sort of problem with me, Riddle?" Harry spat, wanting to just get it all out in the open.

"Of course not, Jones, whatever would make you think such a thing?" Tom said smoothly, malice dripping from his voice.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact the you just tried to kill me tipped me off a little?" Harry spat sarcastically.

Tom clenched his jaw, "Oh, I assure you Jones, had I wanted to kill you, you surely wouldn't be standing here right now. I simply wanted to gauge how you would handle aggressive competition is all." Tom lied smoothly.

Hermione wasn't buying it, and neither was Harry, though they both knew now was not the time to press the issue.

"Fine. Did my performance meet your expectations, then?" Harry snapped venomously.

"You performed adequately. Don't expect your sister to rescue you on Saturday, however, I can assure you that Fleamont Potter will not go easy on you." Tom said icily before stalking away from both he and Hermione.

"What are you all standing around here for? Did I tell you to stop?" He shouted at the other players before several of them scrambled back onto their brooms and took flight once again.

Hermione sighed and headed back into the stands. It seemed as if Tom was still jealous of Harry, even if he couldn't admit it. _Boys._


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you all for the reviews! I think this is my favorite chapter so far…Poor Harry! (*evil smirk*)**

 **Chapter 10 –"She's my _WHAT_?!"**

Later that evening, Hermione sat in the back of the library finishing her transfiguration essay. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear anyone approach, and she jumped a little when someone dropped into the chair next to her at the table.

She looked up sharply, and covered her heart with her hand as she saw Tom smirking up at her.

"That was dirty trick you pulled earlier, Hermione. I really should punish you for your lack of respect..." Tom said huskily as he moved closer to her.

"And by punish do you mean to curse me, or shag me?" Hermione snapped, her eyes blazing defiantly.

"Truthfully? I haven't yet decided." He said with a hint of danger in is tone

"What was that really about earlier, anyway? And don't give me the same flimsy excuse because I'm not buying that at all." Hermione said sharply.

"If you want me to be honest, how about you do the same?" he said challengingly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her against him.

Hermione looked at him in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?" she spat

"Either you're lying to me or yourself; it's clear from your reaction this afternoon at lunch, that you are not at all pleased that Harry is showing interest in Effy Prewett. I don't think I need to remind you Hermione, that _I don't share_." Tom said menacingly, a dark look crossing his face as he forced her to look at him.

Hermione's eyes widened. _Oh Merlin…he thought…_

Hermione laughed. She couldn't help it, but seeing the anger rising on his face at her reaction, she thought it best to try and explain.

"Oh, goodness…you have it all wrong, Tom." She said trying to catch her breath.

"He raised his eyebrow at that, but did not relinquish his grip on her

Hermione flicked her eyes around the room to make sure they were alone, and used her free hand to cast a ' _Muffliato_ '.

"Tom, Effy Prewett is Harry's _Grandmother_." Hermione said trying to hold in her laughter.

His eyes widened, "You can't be serious." Was all he could say, though she was relieved to feel his grip on her wrist loosen slightly.

"I was trying to see if Harry had any idea that she was related to him this afternoon, but clearly, he hasn't a clue."

"Well, aren't you going to tell him?" Tom chuckled darkly at the revelation.

"Well, it's not as if I can tell him in the middle of the great hall. I have to try and get him alone. I can't have anyone overhearing that conversation." Hermione reasoned.

Tom laughed thinking about how Harry wanted to take his grandmother to Hogsmeade.

"And don't think you're off the hook either." She scolded, and he looked at her in shock.

"Me? What did I do?" he still laughed feeling relieved it wasn't at all what he had thought.

"You and your jealousy almost killed my best friend. I told you Tom, he's like a brother. A brother that I will fight tooth and nail to protect." Hermione said sharply.

Tom leaned in closer to her, brushing his hand across her cheek, enjoying the way her eyes flashed with defiance

"Even from me?" he whispered silkily as he brushed his lips over hers

" _Especially_ from you." Hermione said huskily before she grasped the back of his head and pulled him into a deep kiss.

~~{0}~~

The next morning Hermione took her seat in the stands to watch the first quidditch game of the season. Hermione would by lying if she said it wasn't weird to be sitting in a sea of green and silver rooting for their old rivals, but, this was her life now.

She watched The Slytherin team, with Tom in the lead fly onto the pitch, and the Slytherin side erupted in cheers. A few moments later, the match had begun. Activity was happening almost too quickly for Hermione to track, and she couldn't help but smile as Tom scored the first ten points for Slytherin. A short while later, her eyes found Harry zooming after the snitch with Fleamont hot on his tail. The look on Fleamont's face was murderous, but Harry was too focused on the snitch to notice. Unlike at practice, Fleamont was able to shadow Harry move for move. After a tense hour, and a very dramatic catch by Harry, Slytherin won the match. Hermione waited in the stands until most of the students had filed out, most of them eager to get to Hogsmeade, and she was about to walk over to Harry when she saw Effy Prewett approach him first. She ducked behind the goal post so that she could hear what they were saying.

"You were amazing out there today, Harry." Effy gushed

"Thanks." Harry said awkwardly, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice. Harry had never been smooth when talking to girls.

"Harry, it's a Hogsmeade weekend you know, are you going?" She asked, obviously trying to figure out if he was already taking someone.

"Yeah about that…I was wondering if… _youwanttogotoHogsmeadewithme_?" Harry said in a rush.

Effy laughed, "Sorry? I didn't quite catch that?"

"Would you want to go? With me, I mean?" Harry asked, looking down at his feet.

"I'd love to." She replied

Harry looked up sharply; he hadn't expected her to say yes. He still had anxiety from his Yule Ball experience from fourth year.

"Brilliant! That's brilliant." he said and smiled at her.

After she heard their voices receding, Hermione was just about to step out from behind the goal post and head to the castle when she heard Tom's voice whisper in her ear.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it isn't polite to eavesdrop?"

Hermione spun around to face him, and he pinned her against the goal post with his body.

"Speaking of Hogsmeade, you will go with me." He told her as he leaned in to kiss her neck.

Hermione scoffed, "What am I, a dog? You could ask me you know."

"You are mine, so naturally, you will go with me." He said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"What if I didn't feel like going?" she challenged placing a hand on his chest to make him look at her.

"Hermione…" he said warningly

"I'm not your property, Tom. I won't be ordered about." She said defiantly.

 _Merlin, she was an infuriating witch._

"You're not going with anyone else." He said sharply.

Hermione chuckled at his possessiveness, "Tom, I don't want to go with anyone else. I would prefer to go with you." She told him.

"So why are you arguing with me then?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Because I want you to ask me, not tell me." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

Tom sighed, "Fine. Will you go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked flatly.

"No." Hermione said trying to hold in a chuckle at the look of irritation on his face.

"No? Why the hell not?" he asked scowling.

"You didn't say 'please'." She said smirking at him.

He smirked and leaned in close to her to brush his lips against her ear, and he whispered, "Please…"

She smiled against his cheek, and snaked her arms around his waist and said, "Since you asked so nicely, of course I'll go."

He growled and pulled her against him and kissed her, muttering something under his breath about 'insufferable witches'.

~~{0}~~

Hermione walked with her arm through Tom's along the path to Hogsmeade. The leaves were beginning to change, and Hermione couldn't help think about how drastically everything had changed since she and Harry had been flung into the past, and about all the people they'd left behind. They had been here a while now, and were still no closer to finding a way home.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked quietly from beside her.

She looked around, and saw that they were alone and answered him honestly, "I was just thinking about home."

He frowned at that.

"Are you so eager to leave?" he snapped, although she thought she could detect a little bit of worry in his voice.

"I don't belong here, Tom. I had a life back home, family, friends…" she trailed off.

"So what reason do you have to stay?" he stopped walking and looked at her.

She looked down at their joined hands, and said quietly, "I was hoping you would give me one."

His jaw twitched, and he didn't say anything.

She shook her head and suddenly felt silly. She should have expected this; of course he wouldn't stand there and profess his love for her, a _mudblood_ no less. He obviously had an interest in her because it suited his needs, but beyond that, he probably didn't feel anything for her the way that she was beginning to for him.

Not wanting to press the issue and get into an argument, she began walking again, and he followed her into the Three Broomsticks. She walked past several tables of rowdy students, and her eyes landed on Harry and Effy Prewett. They were seated at a table towards the back of the tavern, and they were _snogging_.

Tom stepped up behind her, wondering why she had stopped when he saw what she was looking at, and he let out a sharp bark of laughter before he could stop himself.

"You really should do something about that." He chuckled into her ear.

She looked at him helplessly, as if to say, _what the hell should I do_? When he grabbed her hand and pulled them right up to their table and cleared his throat loudly.

"I hope we're not interrupting." Tom said smoothly, trying desperately not to laugh.

Effy pulled away from Harry in embarrassment, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"Tom! Hermione! Won't you join us?" she said politely.

Hermione sat stiffly, trying not to make eye contact with Harry. He was just making out with his grandmother, and he had absolutely no idea. _Oh god_.

"Right, I'll get the drinks." Tom said awkwardly and stepped away before Hermione could stop him.

Effy smiled and attempted to make small talk about the weather, and the quidditch match, although Hermione could tell, she was clearly mortified by being caught snogging her 'brother'.

"Will you excuse me for just a moment?" Effy said awkwardly and headed for the loo without waiting for their acknowledgement.

Harry's eyes watched her walk away before they snapped back to Hermione, "How's your date with Riddle?" Harry asked tersely taking another sip of his butterbeer.

"Apparently not as good as yours." Hermione said trying hard to not burst out laughing.

Harry flushed at her insinuation, and glared at her.

"Harry, I need to tell you something about Effy." Hermione said biting her lip nervously.

Harry sighed, "Oh come on Hermione, if you have a problem with me seeing Effy, just say so." Harry spat

Getting annoyed at his attitude, she scoffed and said, "As a matter of fact, I do have a problem with it!" She said acidly.

"You're jealous. Just say it." Harry shot back

"Jealous? Hardly!" Hermione sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Harry scowled at her obvious rejection, "Oh, I forgot, you're too busy fraternizing with the enemy!" Harry said accusingly as he took another sip of his drink, slamming it back down angrily

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and whispered in a low voice, "Yeah, well at least I'm not snogging my _grandmother_."

Harry choked on his butterbeer, just as Tom returned to the table.

"Alright, Harry?" Tom said smirking at him.

Harry glared at Tom, and then he felt a hand land on his arm, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," Effy said politely.

Tom sat and picked up his butterbeer and took a sip, enjoying Harry's discomfort.

"Are you alright, Harry? You look a bit flushed." Effy asked in concern.

"Yeah, suddenly I'm not feeling so well…" he said honestly.

"Oh...we should head back then. Tom, Hermione, see you around." She nodded to them as she helped Harry up from the table and walked out with him.

"How did he take it?" Tom asked smirking.

Hermione glared, "About as well as you could imagine." She said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Does he know about Fleamont?" Tom asked curiously.

"He worked that one out on his own, the last name was a dead giveaway" Hermione said sarcastically.

"You and I aren't related are we? Not some distant cousin on my father's side, perhaps?" Tom asked quickly looking over at her with wide eyes.

Hermione laughed, "Most definitely not."

"Thank Merlin for that." Tom breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione laughed. Truthfully, if that bothered him, then he should not be so keen on embracing the purelood traditions since most of them were in fact related.

Despite the tension that had been between them earlier, they enjoyed each other's company while they finished their drinks and then headed back to the castle. She needed to have a long talk with Harry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hey everyone! I hope I haven't lost any of you! If you're still reading and enjoying this, let me know!**

 **Chapter 11 – A Shift in Priorities**

"Harry?" she called out as she walked onto the pitch. Harry was alone flying around up there chasing after the snitch. He finally spotted her, and flew down to land.

"I think we need to talk." Hermione said walking up to him.

His face still looked angry, but she'd known Harry a long time. If anything, she was sure he was embarrassed more than anything else.

"Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" Harry said accusingly.

Hermione sighed, "Harry, I would have if I'd had a chance. I was trying to figure out whether or not you knew at lunch the other day, but clearly, you didn't. It wasn't as if I could tell you in the Great Hall." Hermione reasoned.

"Well you should have tried harder! Merlin, I snogged her! My own _grandmother_!" Harry said, his face twisting up in disgust.

Hermione tried her best not to laugh, but she chuckled despite herself.

"It's not funny, Hermione. At least that explains why Fleamont has been glaring daggers at me all week. I thought he was going to kill me during the quidditch match."

"Well, you know what you have to do, don't you? You need to find a way to get Effy and Fleamont together. Isn't there a dance coming up soon?" Hermione asked

"Yeah, the Halloween ball is next month. What do you think we should do?" Harry asked needing all the help he could get.

"Well, she'll be expecting you to ask her, but you can't. Ask one of the Slytherins to go to the ball with you instead. Then, ask Fleamont if he would meet you on the Astronomy tower to go over your Astronomy project. Ask Effy to meet you there on the same night, just before Fleamont is due to show up. When she shows up, initiate an argument with her. Tell her that you're sorry, but you don't feel the same way about her, and that you are going to the ball with someone else. She'll be devastated, surely, and you can storm off and allow Fleamont to console her. If they don't show up to the dance together, my name isn't Hermione Jean Jones."

Harry just stared at her in disbelief.

"Hermione, I think you truly are a Slytherin. That's bloody brilliant!" Harry laughed, "So who should I ask to go to the dance with me then?" he asked.

"Well, I happen to know that Dorea Rosier is still single…although admittedly not for long. She will be engaged to Cygnus Black before Christmas." Hermione said matter of fact.

"Dorea Rosier? Wait a minute…is she…"

"Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda's mother, yes. Not to mention _dear_ Lucius Malfoy's mother in law." Hermione said sarcastically.

The look Harry gave after learning that bit of information could have rivaled one of Tom's more sinister expressions.

"Excellent" Harry smirked, "Are you going with Riddle, then?" Harry asked with an edge of disapproval in his voice.

"I would assume, so, yes. Harry, there's something I need to tell you..." Hermione said nervously not wanting to meet his eyes.

"What is it?" he asked picking up on her nervousness.

"Please don't freak out." She pleaded, holding up her hands

"Hermione, _you're_ freaking me out. Spit it out already." Harry said anxiously.

"Okay. Riddle and I….we…that is to say…" Hermione stumbled over her words not knowing quite how to say what she needed to say.

"You what, Hermione?" Harry prodded

"We're sort of…together." Hermione finally spit it out.

"Together. You and Riddle. Voldemort. You're together with _Voldemort_." Harry said incredulously.

"I know how it sounds, Harry, but it all happened rather fast." Hermione tried to explain.

"He's the Dark Lord, Hermione, You're dating the _bloody_ Dark Lord! That doesn't exactly happen fast!" Harry shouted.

"Look, some things happened the other night, some of which I can't tell you all the details about, but I will say that he saved my life. It was unexpected. I wasn't in my right state of mind after that and I slipped up on some of the details of our cover story. Tom noticed. I tried to back-peddle, but it was too late. After the Slug Club dinner, he took me to the Chamber of Secrets and-"

"He _WHAT?!_ " Harry roared, "Hermione, you do know what's in there, don't you?!" Harry asked angrily.

"Yes, Harry, of course I know. I've had to listen to you re-tell that stupid story a million times to all your little fangirls." Hermione rolled her eyes. _What did he think, she was stupid?_

"So why the hell did you agree to go with him? Or did he force you?" Harry said taking a step towards her.

"No, he didn't force me, not exactly. We had a small argument in the girl's lavatory, but we came to an agreement, and I went in willingly. That's beside the point."

"Okay, so you, a _muggleborn,_ willingly went into the chamber of Secrets with the Heir of Slytherin who happens to keep a giant _muggleborn-eating snake_ in there, to do _what_ exactly?"

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad!" Hermione retorted.

"Newsflash, Hermione, it _is_ as bad as it sounds. Now continue." Harry said crossing his arms over his chest.

"So we went in there to talk privately, because as I said, he knew all along that we were hiding something, and when I had slipped up earlier, I had no choice but to tell him the truth." Hermione explained.

"Great. that's just great, Hermione, so he knows we're from the future then? Let me guess, he wanted to hear all about how evil he turns out to be." Harry said rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm not completely daft, I did get him to make the unbreakable vow before I told him anything." Hermione sniffed, "And for your information, he seemed pretty disturbed about how he turns out in the future."

Harry looked up at her sharply, "Do you think he'll still do it?" harry asked quickly.

"Well, that I don't know. Only time will tell, but no doubt things have already changed, since we're here. I do think it's possible that things could go differently." She said

"What sort of vow did he make then?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well I knew he would never agree to make a vow that would prohibit him from becoming the Dark Lord, but, I did get him to agree to not do any of it sooner; at the very least, it will preserve the integrity of the timeline, should he still go ahead with it." Hermione explained.

Harry nodded. It seemed reasonable enough.

"Have you found any leads yet on how we can get home?" Harry asked changing the subject.

Hermione sighed. Not yet. I've been using my free periods to do some research, but so far, nothing. I'm going to try to sneak into the restricted section, maybe There is something in there that will help." Hermione said thoughtfully.

Harry nodded. This whole thing was like some awful nightmare that he couldn't wake up from; what would be next, being naked in class? The thought made him shudder.

~~{0}~~

Later that night, Tom sent his followers to meet in the 7th floor corridor. Now that he knew were the room of Requirement was, he decided it would be a much safer meeting place for his knights.

He paced back and forth in front of the wall thinking of the perfect place to hold a meeting. He made sure it would be ill-lit, with an unwelcoming feel to put his followers on edge; he wanted to make sure that they knew exactly who was in charge.

"My Lord, this is…" Malfoy looked around with trepidation.

"The new meeting place. You will report here when you are told to do so, and await my instruction." Tom snapped.

Once all the Knights were assembled in a semi-circle surrounding their Lord, Tom spoke.

"My Knights, there has been a slight change in plans; I have come by some rather interesting information, and it seems that eradicating muggleborns is no longer the way forward."

A few gasps could be heard around the chamber, and Tom's head turned sharply towards Lestrange.

"Edmund, is there something you wish to say?" Tom said silkily in a tone that didn't bode well for Lestrange.

Edmund Lestrange sneered, he knew exacly what caused this change in plans.

"It's that muggleborn whore, Jones, isn't it. She's making you soft." Lestrange spat venomously.

Tom's jaw clenched at the open display of defiance. He would have to teach him a lesson

As fast as lightning, Tom's wand was pointed at Lestrange, " _Crucio_ " Tom whispered

Almost instantaneously, Edmind Lestrange dropped to the ground writhing in blinding pain. His screams echoed off the cavernous chamber walls. After a few moments, Tom lifted the curse and leaned down towards Edmund and whispered into his ear

"Disrespect me again, and I'll kill you."

Edmund whimpered and began to pull himself back up to his feet shakily.

"Does anyone else have a problem with this change?" Tom sneered, and looks at the faces of all those assembled before him.

Abraxas Malfoy swallowed and spoke up, "Forgive me, my Lord, but what is our goal moving forward?"

Tom inhaled through his nose. He wouldn't punish Malfoy, at least he'd been respectful.

"From now on, we will be focused on power and ability alone; not blood status. If we are to take over the Ministry, we need the most powerful wizards and witches on our side. I have come to see that power, no matter the source, is still power, and we would do well to welcome it." Tom said smoothly.

He saw some heads nod in understanding, while others stood remaining stoic. This would be a test to weed out those who are most loyal to him, and those who will be stripped from the ranks.

"You are dismissed." Tom said and with a flick of his wrist, the door opened and they all began to file out.

Tom didn't see the glare that Edmund Lestrange sent his way before he shuffled out of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: I hope you are all still with me! I am simultaneously writing 3 fanfics; This one, Bound, and Beauty and the Beast, so please bear with me as it takes me some time to write each chapter for all three of these stories and get them updated! I promise I am actively working on all of them though, and they will be finished! Please review! xo - Oh yeah, and some smut for you in this chapter!**

 **~~{0}~~**

Hermione borrowed the Marauder's map from Harry, and crept out of the Slytherin dorm under a disillusionment charm. She padded quietly down the corridor, carefully avoiding the prefects who were out patrolling. She made it to the entrance of the library and quietly crept inside, closing the heavy door behind her. It was dark, and according to the map, no one else was in there, so she cast _Lumos_ to light her way towards the restricted section. She needed to search the stacks to see if there was anything at all that could help them get home. She folded up the map and placed it in her bag when she found the section that contained books relevant to time travel. There wasn't much, only a few books, but Hermione grabbed all of them and proceeded to shove them into her bag when a hand covered her mouth from behind her. Her eyes widened and she yelped until Tom whispered into her ear.

"What are you doing out after curfew, in the restricted section no less?" he questioned his free hand running along her thigh and up under her skirt. Her eyes rolled back and she leaned back against him as his fingers slipped beneath her knickers

"Answer me, Hermione…Just what are you up to?" he asked brushing his lips against her throat where her pulse was racing madly.

She bit her lip trying to concentrate on his words as his fingers slid into her causing shocks of pleasure to run through her.

"Just a bit of light reading…" she lied and then moaned as his fingers curled inside of her hitting a sensitive spot. She could feel his hardness pressed against her backside as he left a trail of open mouthed kisses down her neck.

"You're lying to me, Hermione…" he whispered and his fingers slipped out of her then, and she groaned in frustration at the loss of contact.

He plucked one of the books from her bag, _The Art of Time Travel_ by Gilgamesh Thorne, and looked up at her curiously.

"Trying to run away from me?" He smirked and stalked towards her.

She backed away from him slowly until she bumped into a desk unable to move any further. He closed the distance between them and set the book aside; twining one of his hands in her hair as he captured her mouth and kissed her hungrily. He broke the kiss and his hand left her hair and trailed down her neck and over her chest where he pushed her down to lay back upon the desk. He kept his gaze intensely locked on hers as his hands slid up her bare thighs and under her skirt. He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her knickers and pulled them off, dropping them to the floor. He grasped her ankle and lifted her leg, kissing the inside of her knee and down her inner thigh until he reached her center. Hermione was panting now, desperate for him to touch her. Her back arched upwards off the desk when she felt his tongue delve into her, and she moaned. She reached down and grasped his hair as he lapped at her, bringing her close to the edge, though it wasn't enough; she needed to feel more of him.

"Please…" she whimpered, hoping he would give her what she so desperately needed.

He met her gaze and without moving away from her he asked, "Please, what?" in a tone that was demanding.

"Please fuck me…" She said biting her lip feeling herself blush at how wanton she sounded.

"Please fuck me, what?" He asked, running a finger over her slit lightly, teasing her.

Hermione furrowed her brow. What did he expect her to call him? Tom? And then she realized and inhaled sharply. It was only sex, right? Even if she said it, it wasn't as if she really meant it…

"Please fuck me, _My Lord_." She said in a near whisper.

Tom's smirk was positively wicked. He stood then, and began undo his belt.

"Since you asked so nicely…" he said huskily as he let his pants fall to the floor and he grasped her ankles and pulled her legs up to rest on his shoulders. He thrust into her hard, and Hermione had to grasp the edge of the desk for support. He kept his gaze locked with hers as he pounded into her relentlessly. Her skirt had flipped upwards onto her stomach, and she could see his cock pumping into her which was the most erotic thing she had ever seen. His hand moved to where they were joined and he rubbed his thumb over her sensitive nub a few times before she felt her orgasm washing over her. Her muscles clenched down around him, making him groan as he continued to fuck her as she came. A few moments later, he growled and spent himself inside of her. They were both breathing heavily, as she slowly moved her legs back to the floor and began to sit up on the desk. Her cheeks were flaming in embarrassment when she thought back to the things they'd both said. She had to admit, hearing him talk that way was a turn on. He was very much in his element when he was in control, and the quiet confidence that exuded made him all the more enticing.

He picked her knickers up from the floor and handed them back to her with a devilish smirk.

"I rather liked hearing you call me that." He said honestly.

Hermione sucked her lip between her teeth as she deftly slipped her knickers back on

"About that…" Hermione began nervously, "I mean, I was in the moment, I don't want you to think-"

He cut her off then, "You may not want to admit it, least of all to yourself, but no one else can make you feel the way that I do, Hermione." He said sharply.

He was right, Hermione knew; after being with him, she didn't think anyone else could make her feel alive in the way he did.

"Yes, but-"

"No more excuses. We both know that its knowledge and recognition you crave. I can give all of that to you. With you by my side we could rule the world." He said to her

"I don't want the world, Tom, I want _you_." She said gazing at him evenly.

He moved to where she sat on the desk, and cupped her cheek. Her eyes fluttered shut and she felt his lips brush against hers as he whispered against her mouth, "Then stay with me."

It was in that moment, that she knew she was never going back. She would still find a way to get Harry home, but she knew now, that she would not be going with him.

~~{0}~~

The next morning, Harry entered the Great Hall and felt a stab of guilt when he saw Effy trying to get his attention and he pointedly ignored her. It was very uncharacteristic of him to do something like that, but in this case, it was necessary. His eyes fell on a dark haired witch sitting near the end of the Slytherin table, so he made his way over to her instead and sat down across from her.

"Dorea, right? I'm Harry." He said giving her his best ' _chosen one_ ' grin.

She smiled shyly and looked down at her plate before glancing back up at him, "Yes, I know who you are."

"Right. We have a class together, don't we?" Harry asked lamely

She laughed, "Yes, three actually; Transfiguration, Astronomy, and Divination."

"Brilliant. Maybe we can study together in the library sometime?" Harry asked awkwardly, and she bit her lip and nodded shyly at him.

"Excellent. That's really excellent." Harry said and was relieved to see Hermione and Tom arrive in time to save him from the awkward exchange.

Hermione took her seat next to Harry and smirked when she was able to figure out that he had just been chatting with Dorea.

"Don't look now, but Effy is glaring at you." She whispered to Harry.

"I know, I tried not to look." Harry admitted sheepishly and Tom snorted across the table from him.

"Oh bloody hell, Hermione, you didn't tell him did you?" Harry glared at her while pointing at Tom.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Tom, and then looked at Harry apologetically, "He misread the situation, I had to explain it to him." She said cryptically.

Harry sighed. It was bad enough he had to sit across from Tom Riddle every morning while he oogled Hermioe, now the git knew about him snogging his grandmother too? He should just ask him to _Avada_ him right now…

He looked back over at Hermione who was nibbling on a croissant and reading the Daily Prophet, "Hermione, we have that transfiguration project due tomorrow, will you meet me later so we can work on it?"

Hermione furrowed her brow for a second before she realized that Harry just wanted to meet with her alone without outwardly saying so,

"Sure. We can go to the library after dinner to work on it." She said quickly hoping Tom didn't notice.

"Yes, and we all know how much Hermione _loves_ the library." Tom said in a way that sounded dirty, and Hermione blushed furiously thinking about all of the naughty things they had done in the restricted section night before.

~~{0}~~

Later that evening after dinner, Hermione made her way to the library, once again blushing at the thought of what Tom had done to her on one of the desks in the restricted section. She spotted Harry already seated at one of the tables, and she walked over and plopped herself down in the seat next to him.

"Considering there is no Transfiguration project, I am assuming you wanted to talk to me about something else." Hermione said surprised to see that he was actually doing his homework for once.

"Yes, but we can't really talk here, lets go to the Room of requirement." He said as he finished writing the last sentence of his essay and blowing on the ink to dry it before putting it away in his bag.

She grabbed her bag and followed him out of the library up to the seventh floor. Harry paced back and forth in front of the wall until a door appeared, and he opened it and ushered her inside.

Harry didn't waste any time and got right down to business;

"Have you found anything in the restricted section?"

Hermione blushed again, unable to control it, "I did fid a few books, though I haven't had time to read them yet." Hermione said biting her lip nervously and shifting her eyes away from him.

"Hermione, you were down there for two hours last night, what were you doing?" Harry asked

"Hermione laughed nervously, "things." Feeling her face heat up. She must be as red as a cherry tomato by now.

"Things? Like what kind of things?" Harry repeated still completely oblivious.

Hermione wanted to melt into the floor. How does one tell her best friend that his arch-enemy fucked her neatly over a desk in the library while she was supposed to be looking for books to send them back home?

"Does it matter? The point is, I got the books. We can look at them now if you like." Hermione said quickly changing the subject.

Harry frowned, but nodded. He knew she was keeping something form him deliberately, but he was starting to think he didn't want to know.

Hermione pulled the books from her bag and handed him one of them while she took the other. She plopped down on the sofa with _The Art of Time Travel_ while Harry perused _Astral Magick_ by Cassandra Vblatsky.

Two hours later, Hermione sat up in straight on the couch from her slouched position, and pulled the book closer to her face as she re-read a paragraph wanting to confirm that it meant what she thought it did.

"Harry! I think I found something! She said excitedly as she placed the book on the coffee table between them and pointed to the section she had just been reading

"It says here that time, meaning the past, present, and future, all exist simultaneously; there are multiple timelines that are woven together like threads in the fabric of time. If this is true, our original timeline that we can from should still exist somewhere." Hermione trailed off deep in thought.

"Yes, but how do we manage to get _back_ to it? And what if we change events in this timeline as I'm sure we already have; will it even be possible to get back to the way things were? " Harry asked thoughtfully.

Hermione bit her lip, "I don't know, Harry. I'm pretty sure no one has ever done this before." Hermione sighed

"Things would be so much simpler if we could just charm the time-turner to work backwards." Harry scoffed.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Harry, that's it! Merlin, I can't believe I didn't think of it before! The answer was right there under our noses the whole time!" She shrieked.

Harry jumped up excitedly, "What? What was?"

"Don't you see Harry? All we need to do is use the reversal charm on the Time-turner and then set it to 54 years. This time instead of sending us into the past 54 years, it'll send us forward. I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Harry asked.

"Harry, we can't go yet – we have to make sure Fleamont and Effy get together, because if we don't, you might not exist in the future." Hermione explained carefully, wanting him to understand the implications of their actions. Also, she didn't know how she was going to tell him that she wouldn't be returning with him.

"Now I understand all Dumbledore's warnings about messing with time. Merlin's Balls."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Here's the next installment of Accidents! I hope you enjoy, this chapter was kind of fun to write... :D Please review!**

 **~~{0}~~**

Hermione slipped into her seat in the Great Hall and felt Tom's hand land on her thigh under the table. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he appeared to be focused on the article he was reading in the Daily Prophet. She smirked at his constant need to be touching her, and spooned some eggs onto her plate.

"Those incompetent fools…" Tom muttered as he shoved the paper aside and sipped his coffee.

"Who's incompetent today?" Hermione asked smirking at him.

Tom sighed, "Those buffoons down at the Ministry are trying to pass a law to ban the use of underage magic."

Hermione wasn't shocked at this, since that law had been very much in effect in her own time.

"And you have a problem with that?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, as should anyone with even the slightest magical ability. You as well as I know that magic can manifest unintentionally in children when they are over stimulated. It's counter-intuitive to attempt to pass a law restricting something they haven't been effectively taught to control yet. Think about it; how much more beneficial would our magical education be if we didn't need to spend the first two years learning the basics. If those things could be learned before the formal start of education, and students were allowed to practice outside of school, we would have a much more efficient society." Tom explained.

Hermione had to admit, he had a point. She was sure Harry would also agree, since he had almost been expelled from Hogwart's on a few separate occasions due to using magic outside of school, even as a matter of self-defense.

"You have a point." Hermione agreed. She had never been a big fan of the puppets that had always been running the ministry. Just like any governing body, she was convinced it was all corrupt anyway.

Harry sat heavily in his seat across from Hermione and dropped his head onto the table.

"Granny troubles, Jones?" Tom chuckled and Hermione smacked him on the arm.

Harry lifted his head and glared at Tom, "Fuck off, Riddle." Harry spat

Tom just smirked and sipped his coffee, enjoying the fact that he was able to get under his skin so easily.

"Harry, What happened?" Hermione asked more sympathetically.

"Effy happened. I was on my way here and she cornered me." Harry admitted pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Well, you know what they say, Jones, ' _if you can't keep it in your pants, keep it in the family_.'" Tom said before Hermione whacked him with her Transfiguration book.

"Ouch, you harpy!" Tom said grabbing the book out of her hands and setting down on the other side of him so she couldn't whack him with it again.

"You deserved that. Be nice." Hermione huffed

Tom just smirked at her and picked up his coffee.

"What did she say, Harry?" Hermione asked once again focused on Harry.

Harry sighed, "She asked me why I've been ignoring her, and if she'd done anything wrong. Of course I couldn't tell her the truth, so I just gave her some lame excuse and told her I had to go. I feel like shit now."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you look like shit too." Tom offered.

"Tom!" Hermione scolded and gave him a dirty look.

"What? I'm just being honest." Tom sniffed.

Harry glared at him, and decided to ignore him.

Hermione placed her hand on Harry's arm to comfort him and she felt Tom squeeze her thigh under the table. _He was still jealous apparently_.

"You're going to the library to study tonight with Dorea, right?" Hermione asked him

"Yeah, that's the plan." Harry answered.

"Well you have to ask her to go to the ball with you tonight. The sooner you do, the sooner we can move to phase two of _operation matchmaker_." Hermione assured though Harry was beginning to turn green at the thought of having to ask Dorea out.

Hermione was about to take a sip of her tea when she saw Isadora Selwyn approach Tom. Hermione gritted her teeth as she watched the way Isadora swayed her hips towards him, and twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers like the blonde twit that she was.

"Hi, Tom" Isadora giggled, flicking her eyes towards Hermione and smirking.

 _Oh, no she didn't._

"Isadora." Tom said politely in greeting.

"I was thinking…" Isadora began

"There's a novel idea." Hermione muttered under her breath sarcastically.

Isadora shot Hermione a look and narrowed her eyes, "I wasn't talking to you, _Mudblood_."

Hermione shot out of her seat and Harry practically leapt over the table to restrain her.

"Let me go, Harry…" Hermione struggled in his grip.

"I think not." Harry said as he kept a tight grip on Hermione. Finally, she calmed down and Harry released her when he felt like he wasn't going to throw a punch. She was not only pissed at Isadora, but it didn't escape her notice that Tom had not stood up to defend her honor, either, which pissed her off even more. Not that she was surprised.

"As I was saying before I was so _rudely interrupted_ ," Isadora continued putting her focus back on Tom who was still looking back and forth between her and Hermione. "The Halloween Ball is coming up, and I was wondering if you were going with anyone?" Isadora asked biting her lip in a way that she apparently thought was sexy.

Hermione snorted. _If he even thinks about going to the ball with that bimbo…_

"Tom glanced at Hermione and tried to hide his smirk, "I haven't yet decided, Isadora, but should I decide to go, I'll let you know." Tom answered.

Hermione clenched her fork with white knuckles, ready to stab him with it. How dare he insinuate that he would consider going with that cow.

"You do that." Isadora simpered before she walked away out of the great hall.

Tom looked back at Hermione and had to bite back a laugh. She looked like she was ready to spit nails.

"You're not _jealous_ , are you?" he asked knowing perfectly well that she was.

"Hardly." Hermione sniffed, and she turned her gaze toward Harry.

"Harry, forget what I said earlier; I think you should go to the ball with _me_." Hermione said knowing it would make Tom angry. _Lets see how he liked it._

"Hermione…" Tom warned.

"Hermione, you know that I would take you in a heartbeat, but since everyone thinks we are brother and sister…well…" Harry said uncomfortably.

"What difference does it make, Jones? You already snogged your grandmother." Tom spat at Harry.

Harry glared at Tom, and Hermione stood looking between them, and strode off angrily out of the Great Hall.

"Now you've done it." Harry said to Tom.

"Shut your mouth, Jones. She's going to the ball with me, whether she wants to or not." Tom stood glaring back at Harry.

Harry stood mirroring his stance across the table, glaring at him, "Are you going to make me, Riddle?" Harry spat

Tom growled and clenched his fist before he grabbed his bag and strode out of the Great Hall after Hermione.

~~{0}~~

"Hermione…" Tom called after her as she walked as quickly as she could down to the dungeons, completely ignoring him.

When she refused to turn around, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom and warded the door.

"Let me out, I really don't have any desire to talk to you right now." She said holding her Potion's book tightly to her chest.

"Hermione, you're being unreasonable." Tom sighed blocking her from trying to take down his wards.

"Me? _I'm_ being unreasonable? You have some nerve!" Hermione yelled

"Oh calm down, I didn't tell Isadora I was going to take her to the ball. I said that if I decided to go… _with you_ ….I'd let her know." Tom said smirking as he let his words sink in.

"You…wait…" Hermione stuttered.

"I figured you would want to take care of the _letting her know_ part, so I conveniently left that out."

Some of her anger faded when she realized that Tom was only messing with Isadora, but she was still annoyed with him for a few other reasons.

"If you care about me, then why did you let her insult me, Tom?" Hermione asked looking more hurt than angry.

Tom sighed, "Hermione, I didn't do it to hurt you, but you must understand that her father is a high ranking Ministry official. If I make an enemy of Isadora, It would ruin me. Playing politics is a necessary evil, one that you would do well to learn being a member of Slytherin house."

She knew he was right, but it still hurt.

"Also, you were a complete prat to Harry. He didn't deserve that." Hermione scolded.

"Potter is a big boy, he can take care of himself. He did tell me to fuck off, so I'd say we're even." Tom chuckled. He had to admit, Harry at least had a backbone. He could respect that.

Hermione seemed to calm down and he stepped towards her lifting her chin with his fingers so that she would look at him.

"There's only one woman I want, and it's _not_ Isadora Selwyn." Tom said brushing his lips across Hermione's and she moaned into his mouth.

"So will you go to the ball with me then?" He asked pulling her against him

"I'll think about it." Hermione said trying to bite back a smirk when Tom growled in frustration.

"Hermione…" Tom warned

Hermione laughed, "Yes, I'll go with you, Tom."

"Good. Because after the ball, I plan to thoroughly fuck you, and it would be so much easier if you were actually my date." Tom whispered in her ear

Hermione felt her knees go slightly weak at his words, and once again the memory of how he had taken her on the desk on the library flashed through her mind causing her to blush.

"We should get to Potion's class…" Hermione said her voice sounding more husky than she meant it to.

"Yes, we wouldn't want Slughorn to come looking for us." Tom said smirking.

Hermione imagined her Potion's professor walking in on Tom fucking her against the wall, and her mouth suddenly went dry.

She nodded and Tom released the wards on the class room and opened the door for her.

~~{0}~~

"Think carefully about what you say, If the wrong person hears you…" Abraxas said quietly to Edmund as they spoke through one of the stacks in the back of the library.

"He's slipping. Everything we've been working towards is about to go up in flames." Edmund said in an angry whisper back to Abraxas.

"If he finds out you're talking like this, he'll kill you." Abraxas warned.

"He can't kill us all…" Edmund mused

Abraxas rather thought Tom could very easily kill them all if he wanted to, but Edmund had a point; in order to accomplish what he set out to do, Tom needed their support. One or two defectors could be made into an example, but if they all stood against him, he would no longer be the one in control.

"You know I'm right, Abraxas. He's courting mudbloods now. It's a disgrace." Edmund spat.

Abraxas sighed. He agreed with Edmund, and he was quite sure most of the others felt the same way as well but were too afraid of Tom to admit it. He could trace his family back generation after generation, but now he should allow his heritage to be sullied by someone of a lower station because Tom suddenly thinks mudbloods are worthy to study magic? Honestly, Tom was a half blood, and the only reason that Abraxas supported him was because he was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. If he hadn't been descended from one of the founders, Abraxas never would have stood by him. Sure Tom was extremely powerful, but what they lacked in power they made up for in numbers. Surely if they stood together he could be dethroned.

"What do you suggest?" Abraxas asked cautiously, knowing he had just made a pivotal decision.

"He must be killed. Tom is too powerful. The only way to stop him is to silence him for good." Edmund said quickly.

"When?" Abraxas asked, knowing that they would have to get the others on board if their plan is to succeed.

"After the Halloween ball. Everyone will be distracted, and no one will expect it. We can make it look like an accident."

Abraxas nodded, "I'll persuade the others to see things our way." He said and then slid the book back into the stack blocking his view of Lestrange.

He heard footsteps a few moments later and knew Lestrange had walked away. It was time they stood up to Tom and reclaimed what was rightfully theirs; the power belonged in the hands of the Purebloods. With his mind made up, Abraxas picked up his bag and strode out of the library in search of the others.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Another chapter of our favorite Tomione soap opera! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know it's bit of a cliffy, but I'll be updating this again quickly...already working on the next chapter. Beware there is more smut in this chapter.**

 **~~{0}~~**

Harry took a deep breath as he walked through the library towards the table that Dorea was already seated at.

"Hey" he said as he slipped into the seat across from her

Dorea looked up at him and gave him a shy smile and blushing, "Hey yourself."

"What are you working on?" he asked trying to get a look at the texts that were spread out in front of her.

"The Transfiguration essay. I've almost finished. What about you?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him when she noticed he hadn't any books on the table in front of him.

"Oh…uh…I haven't started my essay yet." Harry said awkwardly and pulled out his Transfiguration book, a roll of parchment and a quill.

"Did you need help with it?" Dorea asked, wondering why Harry had asked to study with her in the library.

"Oh…not really…I…um…" he stammered wanting to curse himself for being so pathetic around women.

"Well, if you don't need help, why did you ask me to study with you?" she asked bluntly, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing at his look of distress.

"I guess I just…Look, Dorea, do you…I mean, you don't have to say yes…" Harry rambled

"Harry, you're not making any sense. What is it you want to ask me?" Dorea said placing her hand over his on the table, causing his eyes to widen and his cheeks to turn red.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" He finally managed to ask

Dorea smirked, looking at him again, "Hmmm…What happened to your little Gryffindor?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him. She may not have been asked by anyone else to the ball yet, but she certainly wasn't about to play second fiddle to Effy Prewett.

"It...ah…didn't work out." Harry answered lamely, not wanting to say anymore than that.

"I'd say, she looked pretty distraught at breakfast." Dorea answered.

"Yeah, we just didn't have anything in common, I guess." Harry said dismissively, "So...you didn't say; will you go with me?"

Dorea gave a small smile and bit her lip again shyly, "I suppose. Under one condition…" Dorea said.

"Yeah? What's that?" Harry asked nervously, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.

"Since I know that you're only asking me to upset Effy, I want you to do something for me." She said evenly.

Harry swallowed thickly, "What?" he asked nervously

"I want you to pretend that you like me… _really_ like me. It'll make Cygnus crazy." She said with a small smile that looked a little bit evil.

"Cygnus? You want to make Cygnus jealous?" he asked making sure he understood her request.

"Yes. We dated briefly last year, you see, before that slut Isadora Selwyn got her claws into him. Now I suspect she's set her sights on Tom, which is too bad for your sister, really…" Dorea said waving her hand dismissively, "But, he's been hinting around that he wants to get back with me now that she won't give him the time of day anymore. I however, have no intention of falling back into his arms so easily. I want him to know what it feels like." Dorea explained as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Harry looked at her in awe, "Wow, you really are a Slytherin." He said laughing.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She said smirking at him, "So do we have a deal, Harry?"

Harry smirked at her. Not only would this work out for effectively pushing Effy towards Fleamont, but he would be able to effectively piss off Lucius' father in law by 'fake dating' his mother in law. He really was going to enjoy this…

"Absolutely. It's a deal." Harry answered

~~{0}~~

"Tom, we're supposed to be working." Hermione said trying unsuccessfully to get him to focus on their Potions project, instead, he was distracting her by kissing her neck while she attempted to make notes in the small private study room Hermione had found in the library.

"I'm not stopping you" he mumbled against her neck as his hands began to travel south.

"Tom…" Hermione said in her bossy voice, and she felt his hands still on her thighs as he sighed against her neck and made a small noise of frustration

"What is the matter with you?" she asked turning her face to look at him.

He glared at her, and she could see a muscle twitching in his jaw as he suddenly grabbed her hand and placed it over his painfully hard erection.

" _That_ is my problem. I've been in here looking at you with that skirt riding up your thighs while you blatantly ignore me doing your schoolwork for four hours… _Four hours_ , Hermione." Tom said in frustration.

"We're in a library, Tom, what else should I be doing?" she said pulling her hand away from his crotch

He smirked, "Well, last time we were in the library together, we did quite a lot, none of which had anything to do with school." He said leaning towards her again.

She placed a finger over his lips to stop him before he could start kissing her again, "I'm almost finished, I only have one more essay…"

"Hermione…" He growled in frustration

She bit her lips to keep from laughing at his distress, "Maybe a cold shower will help?" she offered

He looked at her and then an idea came to him, and the smirk that spread across his face was positively evil.

Hermione looked at him and immediately knew she was in trouble.

He leaned into her, brushing his lips against her ear, and began to hiss sensually in Parseltongue.

Hermione's eyes began to roll back and her breath hitched. He had found her weakness. Hearing him speak Parseltongue was the key to opening the chamber of secrets; _her chamber of secrets_.

"That's cheating…" She mumbled as she turned, straddling his lap and kissing him for all she was worth, the Potion's essay temporarily forgotten.

She ground herself against him, feeling his erection straining against her already damp cotton knickers, and he groaned as she rolled her hips against his. He flicked his wand towards the door to the study room, warding it and placing a silencing charm around the room nonverbally, as her hands moved to his belt. She moaned when she felt his teeth graze her throat and his hands took over as he freed his cock from his pants, and pushing her knickers aside as he sunk into her. She inhaled sharply and bit down on her bottom lip when she felt his cock slide into her and her walls tightened around him. She kissed him hungrily as she rode him, winding her arms around his neck for support as he thrust up into her relentlessly.

"Mmmm…you like the way my cock feels inside you don't you, you mudblood whore…"

Hermione's eyes widened and she pulled back in shock to look at him, "What did you just say?!"

He stopped his movement, his cock still inside of her, "What?" he asked looking at her in confusion

"You just called me a mudblood whore, Tom, I heard you!" she said climbing off of him as he put himself back to rights.

"Hermione, I didn't mean…" he started to say before she rounded on him angrily

"Don't patronize me, Tom, I know what you meant. I honestly thought that you had changed. I can't believe I was so stupid." She spat as she shoved him away from her and grabbed her books that were still laying on the table before she pointed her wand at the door to lift the ward.

"Hermione…" he called after her as she stormed out of the room, without a backwards glance.

He dropped his head into his hands and sat there for a moment trying to get himself under control, when he heard someone call his name.

"Tom? Are you okay?"

Tom looked up to see Isadora standing in the doorway to the study room Hermione had just stormed out of a few minutes earlier.

"I'm fine." He said as he stood up to leave when Isadora strolled up to him and boldly placed her hand on his chest.

"Tom, I…You know I really like you…" she said as she leaned into him and kissed him

He was so angry with himself and at Hermione for the way she had just stormed off without giving him a chance to explain, that Isadora's kiss had caught him off-guard. In that moment, he wanted to erase what he felt towards Hermione, because being hurt meant that he cared, and caring was a weakness. Lord Voldemort didn't have weaknesses. He slid his hand up and tangled it in Isadora's hair as he kissed her back when he heard a gasp from the doorway.

Tom's eyes opened slowly to see Hermione standing frozen in the doorway as she watched him. He broke the kiss, looking at her expressionlessly, as Isadora turned towards the door to see what he was looking at.

"What are you staring at, Mudblood?" she said nastily to Hermione as her hand slithered up Tom's chest.

Hermione's chin quivered as she tried hard to hold back the tears of betrayal. She had come back for two reasons; she had forgotten one of her books in her haste to get away from him, and also, because a part of her, no matter how pathetic she felt it might be, wanted to actually hear what had caused him to say something so awful to her. But now, seeing him standing there with Isadora in his arms, she realized that he must have truly meant it; he only saw her as a mudblood whore. For the second time Hermione fled the library, she didn't look back, because she didn't want him to see the unshed tears in her eyes, threatening to fall as she ran away from him. He didn't try to stop her, which made it that much worse.

Without thinking, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could to the seventh floor corridor, and paced back and forth in front of the wall thinking of somewhere quiet that she could be alone. When she opened the door, the sight that greeted her almost made her knees buckle; it was her old bedroom at her parent's house, just as she remembered it. She closed the door behind her, dropping her bag by the door and collapsed on the bed. She finally let the tears fall that had been threatening to spill, and now that she was alone, she sobbed into her pillow. She knew better than to get involved with Tom Riddle, knowing who he was and what he would become, but inexplicably, she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make the tears stop coming, and eventually, she fell into an exhausted sleep.

~~{0}~~

The next morning, Harry made his way to the Great Hall and took his usual seat at the Slytherin table across from Tom. Hermione was noticeably absent.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, assuming Tom would know since they were together more often than not.

He looked up at Harry sharply and spat, "I'm not her keeper, Jones."

Harry furrowed his brow. _Hadn't she told him that they were together?_

"I thought…" Harry began before Tom cut him off sharply.

"What Hermione does is none of my concern." He spat acidly.

Harry scowled. Clearly something had happened to Hermione, and he was already trying to wash his hands of it.

"What did you do to her, Riddle…" Harry spat in low voice.

Tom met his gaze evenly and then flicked his eyes to the doors to the great Hall. Harry followed his gaze and looked over his shoulder to see Hermione hurrying into the hall, keeping her eyes trained on her feet. As she approached the table, Tom stood abruptly and left. Harry looked back and forth between them in confusion and when Hermione finally sat, he asked her what that was all about.

"What happened?" he asked in a low voice so that no one else would hear.

"It's over between us, you were right all along, Harry. I should have listened to you." Hermione said softly, still not able to meet Harry's eyes.

Harry looked at her in confusion, "What did he do to you, Hermione?" Harry said in a dangerous tone.

"Harry, please…don't." she pleaded.

"Tell me, Hermione, _What did he do_?" Harry said angrily, making it clear that he wanted answers.

"He said something to me that I got upset about, and I left, but I came back a few minutes later to discuss it after I had calmed down a bit, only to find him kissing Isadora Selwyn." Hermione said, her gaze flicking over to the Ravenclaw table to glare at the girl in question.

"That _son of a bitch_. Right…" Harry said standing from the table as Hermione looked up at him in surprise, her eyes still red and puffy from crying.

"What?! Harry, No…" She pleaded as Harry stormed out of the Great Hall after Tom.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: I didn;t want to keep you guys waiting long with that cliffy, so here you go! Things are about to get interesting! Please review! xo**

 **~~{0}~~**

Harry stormed out of the Great Hall, the doors banging open from the force of his anger as he shoved them aside.

"Riddle!" he yelled seeing Tom up ahead walking out the front doors towards the black lake

Harry ran after him with Hermione hot on his heels pleading with him to stop.

When Tom didn't turn around, Harry pulled his wand and shot a hex at him, which Tom blocked as he spun around quickly.

"Are you sure you want to duel, Jones? It might be the last thing you ever do…" Tom said dangerously as he took his dueling stance.

"You don't scare me, Riddle." Harry spat as he mirrored Tom's stance, oblivious to the crowd of students that were beginning to gather around them.

"Please both of you, stop this…" Hermione pleaded trying to make them see reason.

"Hermione, back away." Harry said dangerously without taking his eyes off Tom.

Hermione's eyes widened, she had never seen him act like this…he was going to kill him.

"Harry, don't do this, please…he's not worth it…" Hermione pleaded

Tom's eyes snapped to hers and narrowed at her words.

"Final warning Jones…" Tom said holding his wand steady towards Harry's chest

Just as Harry was opening his mouth to curse Tom, both his and Tom's wands flew out of their hands and into the hands of an irate Professor Dumbledore.

"My office. _Now_." He said angrily before he turned sharply and marched back into the castle.

Tom glared at Harry before striding past him, bumping him with his shoulder as he passed.

"Harry, let's go." Hermione urged softly as she reluctantly followed Tom into the castle and up to Dumbledore's office.

When Tom, Harry, and Hermione stepped into Professor Dumbledore's office, the Professor was sitting behind his desk, looking at both of them angrily.

"What is the meaning of this?" the professor asked, and both Tom and Harry tried to speak at once before Professor Dumbledore raised his hands and shouted over both of them.

"Silence!" and then his eyes landed on Hermione, "You, Miss Jones. Tell me what happened."

Hermione swallowed thickly, and glanced towards Tom and then to Harry who both looked at her as if she had just slapped them.

"Well, sir…it was my fault, really….that is to say…" Hermione stammered

"Miss Jones, I am neither blind nor an imbicile. You were not the one with your wand raised, so do not insult my intelligence. The truth now, please." Professor Dumbledore said stonily.

She took a deep breath and told him only as much as she felt he needed to know, "You see Professor, Tom and I well…we had a misunderstanding, and Harry got upset seeing that I was upset, and he was only being protective of me. Things got out of hand." She said twisting her hands together nervously.

The professor sat looking at both Harry and Tom silently, as both boys appeared to look contrite. After a long while, he finally seemed to come to a decision.

"Both of you will serve a month's detention with Horace Slughorn cleaning all of the Potion's cauldrons without magic. You will serve it together so that you might learn to get along. If I hear of even one more incident like this involving either one of you, you will both be expelled, am I clear?" Professor Dumbledore stated angrily.

"Crystal, Professor." Both boys said in unison looking down at their shoes.

"You may go." He said setting their wands on his desk in front of them to take.

Hermione ran out first before either Harry or Tom could say anything to her.

~~{0}~~

Hermione burst through the portrait hole into the Slytherin common room, seeing several heads turn to look at her as she did, and she made her way quickly to her dorm room not wanting to talk to either Tom or Harry.

"Hermione" she stopped at the sound of her name, she hadn't realized anyone else was in the dorms.

"Dorea, I didn't see you." She said stiffly as she sat on her bed.

"I just heard about what happened by the lake…" she said cautiously

"Yeah…uh…Boys, right?" Hermione said dismissively not really wanting to discuss it.

"Hermione, from what I heard, they were going to try to kill each other." Dorea said evenly.

Hermione sighed; she supposed since half the school just witnessed it, there was no sense in lying about it.

"Yeah, it was pretty scary. Thank God Dumbledore was there to stop it." Hermione said.

"You're telling me. I almost lost my date to the ball." Dorea said causing Hermione to look up at her and snort with laughter.

"That would have been tragic." Hermione agreed realizing that Dorea was actually trying to cheer her up.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened? It seemed like you all were friends?" Dorea asked gently.

"Well, it's complicated. I wouldn't say they were ever friends, but they tolerated each other for my sake…that was until…" Hermione's her breath caught in her throat when she thought back to Tom calling her a mudblood whore while they were having sex.

"Until what?" Dorea prodded.

"Tom and I had an argument, and when I stormed out of the library because I was upset, I realized I left one of my books behind. I went back to retrieve it, and I walked in on him snogging Isadora." Hermione said angrily, one of the drapes on her bed bursting into flames.

Without batting an eyelash, Dorea whipped out her wand and put the flame out, "That bitch. She really has it coming."

Hermione looked up at her in surprise. Dorea had a problem with Isadora too?

"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked wanting to know what happened between her and Isadora.

"Well, let's just say that she came between Cygnus and I last year, and clearly now she's decided to move onto greener pastures. She's a man-stealing slut to put it bluntly." Dorea explained.

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. As much as she disliked Isadora, she blamed Tom. He was the one who hurt her first.

"So you and my brother, huh?" Hermione said smiling at Dorea.

"We have come to an agreement of sorts." Dorea said cryptically.

"An agreement?" Hermione asked

"Yeah…it seems he's trying to get Effy Prewett off his back, and I want to make Cygnus out of his mind with jealousy, so Harry is going act like the doting boyfriend and take me to the ball. I wasn't born yesterday though, I know Harry isn't really interested in me."

Hermione nodded. She had to give it to Dorea, she was pretty clever.

"I only wish I knew what to do about this mess with Tom. Part of me hates him for saying what he said to me, but the other part keeps reminding me that he was trying to get me to stay so he could explain…though don't ask me how he could ever explain the awful things he said to me." Hermione said flopping back on her bed.

"You still love him." Dorea said flatly.

Hermione sat up, had she been in love with Tom Riddle? She was definitely attracted to him, unbelievably so, and she admired his intelligence, and she did enjoy his sarcasm, but was she in love with him? And then it dawned on her that she was ready to give up her future by staying with him in the past. She would never do that for someone unless she truly did love them.

"Honestly, even if I did, it doesn't matter now. He's made his feelings quite clear." Hermione said.

"If there's one thing I know for sure, nothing is ever _clear_ when it comes to Tom Riddle." Dorea said and she shoved a chocolate bar into Hermione's hands.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Hermione asked suddenly, her paranoia rising.

"You may be a mud… _muggleborn_ , but you're still a Slytherin. And anyone who hates that blond bimbo as much as I do is okay in my book." Dorea said laughing biting into a piece of chocolate.

"Thanks" Hermione said giving her a genuine smile.

"Don't mention it. I mean that…don't tell the others I was nice to you." Dorea laughed again, and Hermione snorted.

"Looks like I still need a date for the ball now…Tom had asked, but that was before, so clearly, that's not happening. God I'd give anything for Viktor to be here right now…Hell, I'd even settle for Cormac." Hermione muttered to herself.

"Who is Viktor? Or Cormac?" Dorea asked and Hermione's eyes widened at her slip, but she covered quickly

"Oh, Viktor was someone I dated a few years ago…he was a really handsome Bulgarian Quidditch player I met while traveling. Cormac was someone who had a crush on me at one time, but I wasn't interested. But honestly, I just want Tom to realize what he's lost."

Dorea sat up suddenly and clapped her hands excitedly, "Oh, I know just what to do! Leave it to me. By the end of the week, you'll have a date to the ball that will have Tom positively seething with jealousy. I guarantee that even if he takes that hag to the ball, he won't look be looking at her all night, his eyes will be focused on you."

"Who?"

"Orion Black. He's Cygnus' older brother. He's never liked Tom, and it always pissed Tom off that he never wanted to be in Tom's little clique. I am pretty sure he hasn't asked anyone to go to the ball with him yet, and when I tell him that you kicked Tom to the curb, I am sure he'll be eager to snatch you up, even if only to piss Tom off even more."

Hermione bit her lip. It was callous, petty, and completely underhanded. She loved it.

"Count me in." she said smirking at Dorea.

~~{0}~~

That night, Hermione went down to the Great Hall for dinner early, hoping to eat quickly and leave so that she could avoid Tom. She sat down in her usual seat with a huff, noting only a few Slytherins were seated when someone sat down across from her. Thinking it was Harry, she sighed.

"Harry, I don't know what you…" she trailed off, as she looked up to the smirking face of a handsome seventh year Slytherin.

"You're Hermione, right? I haven't had the pleasure of making your acquaintance yet. I'm Orion Black." He said holding out his hand to her to shake.

She bit her lip shyly, shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you."

He ran a hand through his wavy black hair, and looked at her for a moment as if he was trying to figure her out.

"I saw what happened earlier today…you must be something special to have wizards dueling over you." He said giving her a sexy grin as he snatched an apple form the bowl of fruit on the table and taking a bite out of it.

Hermione blushed, meeting his light blue eyes, "I'm just Hermione." She said waving dismissively pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Well, just _Hermione_ , how would you like to go to the Halloween ball with me?" he asked with complete confidence

Hermione smiled, wondering what Dorea had told him. She hoped to God this wasn't a pity date. It didn't seem like a pity, not the way he was gazing at her as if she was a juicy steak.

"I'd love to, Mr. Black" She said wondering what she was getting herself into.

"Orion, please…Mr. Black is my father" he said smirking at her.

"Orion then." She nodded, still giving him what she hoped wasn't a goofy smile. He really was very good looking; maybe not quite as handsome as Tom, but close.

"Excellent. Well, I'll see you around then, _Hermione_." He said picking up her hand and kissing the back of it just as Tom approached the table. Orion's eyes flicked up to Tom's and smirked as he stood and made to head back to his own seat further down the table.

"Riddle" he acknowledged as he walked away.

Tom sat stiffly beside her, and she didn't dare look at him. She didn't trust herself to speak to him, knowing that if she did, she would probably start yelling, and not be able to stop.

"Hermione, I think we need to talk." Tom finally said.

Hermione clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth. The image of him snogging Isadora kept replaying over and over in her mind, not to mention what he had called her just before that.

"I have nothing to say to you." She said coldly, her appetite completely gone.

"Well I do-" he began before she cut him off.

"Excuse me, I've suddenly lost my appetite." She said and stood abruptly storming out of the Great Hall.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Another chapter for you all! I hope you like it - I'm still working on all the other fics too, so please hang tight! (Also, I have yet another new one that I was begging to be written, but when I post that one, it'll be fully complete…I won't say anymore about it, but I think you guys will like it!) Please review! xo**

 **~~{0}~~**

Hermione was heading to Transfiguration with Harry and Dorea when she overheard Isadora gushing about how Tom Riddle asked her to go to the Halloween Ball to a few of the other Ravenclaw girls. Hermione clenched her jaw angrily, forcing herself to keep moving towards the classroom and to not rip Isadora's hair out.

"Hermione, don't listen to that cow, Tom only asked her because you aren't speaking to him, and he's trying to make you jealous. Besides, I heard that Orion was going to ask you to Hogsmeade this weekend…" Dorea said as she clung to Harry's arm.

"Who told you that?" Hermione asked wondering if maybe Orion actually was interested in her for more than pissing off Tom.

"I have my sources." Dorea said cryptically, winking at her.

As they reached the Transfiguration classroom, Hermione could feel Tom's eyes on her the moment she swept into the room, and it took every ounce of her will power to not return his gaze. She decided the best thing she could do, was be herself, which meant that she was going to answer every question in class and make sure that she earned more points than he did. By the end of class, she was sure that if looks could kill, she would have been dead. She picked up her bag, and swept past him as if he was invisible, and she thought she saw him scowl out of the corner of her eye when he saw that Orion was waiting for her out in the hall to walk her to her next class. Orion took Hermione's bag off of her shoulder and gave her a charming smile, as he walked beside her.

"So Hermione, what does a girl like you like to do for fun?" Orion asked giving her a playful grin.

Hermione couldn't help the smirk that was forming on her lips; his smile was infectious, "Well, anything that doesn't involve a broomstick for starters." She said laughing.

"Oh? Not a flyer, are you? I bet I could change that." He said confidently, looking at her from underneath his dark eyelashes.

"Yes, well, Brooms and I have never gotten along; come to think of it, Hippogriff's aren't much better." She told him.

"I'm rather handy with a broom, not that I was ever into Quidditch, but I do enjoy flying. Would you let me take you up sometime?" He asked her. Hermione was sure that if she was any other girl, she would be swooning, however her crippling fear of heights only made her laugh nervously.

"Oh, I'm…uh…I'm a bit afraid of heights, you see…" Hermione trailed off hoping he wouldn't think she was pathetic.

"Well, it's all a matter of perspective really. I imagine if you were thoroughly… _distracted_ , you might be surprised how much you might enjoy it." He said giving her a heated gaze. She couldn't help but notice how dirty it sounded, and she blushed.

"I'll keep it in mind then." She said stopping and taking her bag from him as they reached her next class.

"Say Hermione, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" he asked her, running his hand through his hair in a way that made him look irresistible.

"I'd love to." Hermione said biting her lip shyly as he gave her a real smile.

"Excellent…I'll see you later then." He said and giving her a last look before heading off towards his own class.

Hermione was still smiling as she slid into her seat next to Harry in Muggle Studies. He scribbled a note on a piece of parchment between them:

 _What's got you looking so happy?_ Harry wrote

 _Orion's just asked me to Hogsmeade. Tom didn't look happy that he was there to walk me to class_. Hermione wrote back

 _I like him already_ , Harry replied, and Hermione smacked him on the arm. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

 _So how is it going with Dorea?_ Hermione wrote

 _Well, I've already gotten quite a few death glares from Cygnus, so I imagine it's going well._ Harry replied

 _And what about Effy and Fleamont?_ She asked

 _Fleamont agreed to meet me at the Astronomy tower just after dinner tonight, hopefully just a few minutes after Effy. Merlin, I hope this works. My future literally depends on it._ Harry said giving Hermione a look.

 _I'm sure it will. Their mutual dislike of you will bring them together._ Hermione write stifling a chuckle as Harry elbowed her under the desk.

 _Ugh. I have detention tonight with Riddle._ Harry wrote making a face.

 _I'm sorry._ She wrote and drew him frowny face.

Just then, the professor walked by, so Hermione quickly vanished the parchment so they wouldn't be caught passing notes in class. A short while later, class was over, and they were headed to the great hall. It didn't escape Hermione's notice that Tom was sitting next to Abraxas, clearly trying to avoid her and Harry. Dorea waved them over, and Hermione had to stifle as laugh as Cygnus shot another Death glare at Harry.

"So Harry, what did you tell Effy to get her to meet you?" Hermione asked quietly as she chanced a glance over towards the Gryffindor table.

"I told her that we needed to talk. She probably thinks I'm going to ask her to the Ball. I feel awful about this." Harry said, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, it's for the best, Harry, just remember that." Hermione told him as she filled her plate.

Against her better judgment, she chanced a glance down the table and looked at Tom. He was laughing at something Abraxas had said, and Hermione felt an ache in her chest. Before she could look away, he glanced in her direction, and his stormy grey eyes met hers, and her breath caught in her throat. She looked away quickly, focusing on her plate, and finished her food as quickly as she could so that she could excuse herself.

"Come find me after your detention, Harry, so you can tell me about how it went with Fleamont and Effy. I'm going to head to the library for a bit." Hermione said as she got up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall.

The halls were quiet, since everyone was currently still at dinner, and she walked towards the library so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard anyone come up behind her. She felt a hand clamp over her mouth, and her heart began to pound as she was pulled into an empty classroom. She heard the sound of a ward and a probably a silencing charm hit the door, before her captor spun her around to face him

"Tom! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she shouted taking a step back from him.

"You haven't given me an opportunity to talk to you." He said evenly.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, "So what? Do you want to gloat about asking Isadora to the ball now too? Is that it? You haven't hurt me enough, Tom?"

"Hermione, please; I'm sorry." He said exasperatedly, running a hand through his black hair.

"You're sorry? That's rich. Sorry doesn't cut it, Tom. Not after what you said…what you _did_." Hermione said venomously.

"Look I…I don't…I wasn't supposed to feel anything for you…" He said finally, turning his back to her angrily.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better, Tom? Are you saying that what _you_ did is somehow _my fault_?" Hermione scoffed, "You're unbelievable. I'm leaving."

"Wait… _please_." He grabbed her arm, and she wanted to cry when she felt the same jolt of desire run through her that she felt every time he touched her. It was the crack in his voice when he said 'please' that made her stop, but she didn't dare to turn and look into his eyes.

"I don't know how to do this…I wasn't supposed to feel anything for you, but I…" He sighed not able to put into words exactly what it was he was feeling, "I felt like I was losing control, and I didn't like it." He said, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

She was about to say something, when he turned her to face him

"Hermione, I didn't mean what I said. I wanted to hurt you, because I was angry. After you left, Isadora showed up and she kissed me. I admit, I did kiss her back, but it was because I was trying to convince myself that what I felt for you wasn't real." He said trying to make her understand.

Hermione took a deep breath, "It's not good enough, Tom. Honestly, I could forgive you for kissing Isadora, but I can't forgive what you said to me. In that moment, you were _him_. You were Voldemort." Hermione said before pulling away from him and hurrying out of the classroom. She ran to the library and headed straight for one of the private study rooms and she warded the door before she leaned back against it and broke down. She knew it must've taken a lot for Tom to admit to her why he said what he had said, but in the end, he needed to understand that every time he got scared about what he was feeling, he couldn't lash out at her in anger. She wanted to forgive him, but she knew if she did, it would inevitably happen again. With a heavy heart, she pulled some parchment from her bag and tried to focus on her school work.

~~{0}~~

Harry took a deep breath as he waited on the Astronomy tower for Effy. He really didn't want to hurt her, especially since she was family, but if he wanted to be born in the future, he had to do it. A moment later, she appeared at the top of the stairs with a hopeful look on her face that was like a dagger straight through his heart.

"I wasn't sure you'd come", she said nervously.

"Yeah, I um…Look Effy, I really want to apologize for how I've treated you." Harry began.

A look of relief passed over Effy's face, "That's okay-" Effy began before Harry cut her off

"Because I can't pretend there is anything between us when there isn't. I'm sorry, Effy, but I'm with Dorea now, and I'm taking her to the Halloween ball." He told her, and felt awful when he saw her face crumple at his clear rejection.

Right on cue, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Knowing it was Fleamont, he quickly made his exit to allow Fleamont to pick up the pieces.

"I'm really sorry, Effy." Harry said as he hurried past her and took the other set of stairs away from the tower so that he could avoid Fleamont. He hoped to god Hermione was right, and that this plan would work.

~~{0}~~

Harry still felt awful as he made his way down to the dungeons to the Potion's classroom where he would serve detention with Riddle, cleaning the dirty cauldrons. He did his best to remind himself to not let Riddle get under his skin, but in his current mood, he knew that would be difficult.

He walked into the classroom, and Tom was already waiting with Professor Slughorn.

"Ah, there you are Harry. As I've just told Tom, the two of you are to scrub the cauldron's here from today's lessons. You will return each night during the school week for the next month. I'll be in my office if you should need anything." Slughorn said. He gave one last pitying look to Tom, and then waddled into his office.

Harry sighed and pulled off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves as Tom had already done. As Harry approached the pile of soiled cauldrons, Tom glared at him as if to say, _this is all your fault._

"Well, I suppose they aren't going to wash themselves." Harry sighed grabbing a cauldron and bringing it over to the large sink area, and beginning to let it soak.

Tom scoffed, but also grabbed a cauldron and moved to the sink across form Harry.

"So are you going to tell me what really happened between you and Hermione?" Harry asked after they worked in silence for several minutes.

Tom glared at Harry, and then threw down the brush he was using to scrub the cauldron.

"She is infuriating. I tried to apologize to her, and what does she do? She runs off with that pillock Orion Black." Tom snarled.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smirking.

"From my understanding, it was you who she caught snogging Isadora first…" Harry said in Hermione's defense.

"Isadora ambushed me right after Hermione had run off after our argument, and I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Hermione had walked back in before I came to my senses." Tom said as if that explained everything.

"Is that why you are taking Isadora to the ball then?" Harry accused.

"I asked Hermione; we were supposed to go, but now she's not speaking to me. Next thing I know, I hear she's going with Black. So naturally, I asked Isadora to accompany me." Tom said evenly.

Harry nodded, "Look, I've known Hermione a long time. She closes off when she is upset, and she pushes people away. I don't know what happened, but it must've been pretty bad for her to be this upset." Harry said gently. More than anything he hated seeing Hermione upset, and he knew that she cared for Tom, as much as it pained Harry to admit.

"I messed up." Tom said picking up his brush and went back to work scrubbing the cauldron.

"I can't promise anything, but I can try to talk to her…if you want." Harry offered, wondering at what point he had truly lost his mind.

Tom looked up at him in surprise, "Why would you want to help me?" Tom asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

"I'm not. I'm doing it for Hermione. For some reason I can't fathom, she likes you…Merlin knows why." Harry said as he scrubbed, and Tom chuckled.

The rest of the detention passed quickly, an unlikely truce having been reached.

~~{0}~~

Harry entered the common room and found Hermione on one of the corner couches with Dorea.

"Harry! I've been waiting to hear what happened with Effy and Fleamont!" Hermione said pulling him down onto the couch beside her.

"Well, it went as well as could be expected, I suppose. I broke Effy's heart as planned, and high tailed it out of there as I heard Fleamont coming up the stairs. I guess all we can do now is wait." Harry said tiredly.

"And how was detention with Riddle?" Dorea asked, flicking her eyes over to Hermione to gauge her reaction.

"It was as good as you could imagine a detention that involves scrubbing dirty cauldrons to be." Harry said laughing

"You know what I meant!" Dorea said slapping him on the arm playfully.

"Well, he um…he seems pretty upset." Harry said glancing over at Hermione.

"Not half as upset as he should be." Hermione said flatly.

"Hermione…" Harry began before Hermione sat uo straight and looked at him.

"Don't tell me that you're defending him…"Hermione said glaring daggers at her best friend.

"No! Of course not…Look, I just think that you two should talk, is all." Harry said holding up his hands defensively.

"We did. He cornered me in a classroom after dinner, since that was the only way he could get me alone, but frankly, I'm just not ready to forgive him. To be honest, I'm not sure I can." Hermione said looking down at her hands in her lap.

Harry knew that Hermione just needed time to get over whatever it was that had happened. Maybe it was for the best, since they didn't belong in this time anyway, and would hopefully be going home after the Halloween ball once they could confirm that Fleamont and Effy were a couple.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Im glad you all are still enjoying this! We're getting closer to the ball where lots of stuff is about to go down! dun dun dun! Please leave me a review! xo**

 **~~{0}~~**

"Dorea?" Hermione asked when she saw the Slytherin sitting on her bed, trying to wipe away a few stray tears.

She put on a fake smile, trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying, though not quickly enough for Hermione to not notice.

"Is…everything okay?" Hermione asked hesitantly. She didn't want to pry, but Dorea had been there for her when she needed it, and she wanted to return the favor.

Dorea sighed, "You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I just heard that Cygnus asked Evelyn Greengrass to the ball." She said giving Hermione a sad smile.

Hermione nodded in understanding. Even though Dorea was already going with Harry, it still hurt that Cygnus was taking someone else, even if she was expecting it.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that we look stunning then." Hermione said giving Dorea a small conspiratorial smile.

Dorea looked up at Hermione, catching on to her line of thought, "Have you found a dress yet, then?"

"Not yet, I was hoping that maybe we could pop into the dress shop in Hogsmeade this afternoon? If you would like to, I mean." She said biting her lip hopefully.

"That sounds great. I still haven't found a dress yet either. So I am guessing that Orion asked you?" Dorea said giving Hermione a knowing look.

"Yes he did. I thought at first that he was just asking me to get back at Tom for something, but now…I don't know." Hermione said sheepishly.

"Well, you _are_ pretty, Hermione, he'd be a moron not to notice." Dorea said chuckling.

Hermione laughed, "That's not…I mean…I feel sort of bad though. As angry as I am at Tom, I still…" Hermione trailed off sighing.

"Hermione, you're a terrible Slytherin." Dorea said laughing.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I can't help it if I have a conscience." She said with a smirk.

Dorea raised an eyebrow, and she fought the small smile that tried to come to her lips.

"Orion said to meet him in the entrance hall around ten, How about you and Harry meet there too, and we can all go together?" Hermione suggested, "That way, we can ditch the guys for a bit to do some shopping then meet up with them in the Three Broomsticks for lunch."

Dorea nodded, checking her face in the mirror to make sure her eyes didn't look red and puffy from crying, and then hopped up from her bed.

"Let's go grab some breakfast then before Abraxas eats it all, shall we?" Dorea said looping her arm through Hermione's.

~~{0}~~

Hermione slid into her seat across from Harry along with Dorea, and she noted Harry's gaze was over on the Gryffindor table. Fleamont was seated across from Effy, and he was blushing at something she said.

"I told you it would work." Hermione said smirking.

Harry turned his attention back to Hermione and Dorea, and gave Hermione a relieved smile.

"Why did you want to get rid of Effy so badly anyway? Not that I'm complaining, mind." Dorea asked as she buttered a piece of toast.

Harry looked up at Hermione trying to come up with an excuse, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"She um…she wasn't a very good kisser." Harry said sheepishly. And grunted when he felt Hermione stomp on his foot under the table.

"Oh…I see. I suppose if there is no chemistry, there's no chemistry, I guess." She said shrugging, and went back to buttering her toast.

Hermione looked up as Isadora sauntered into the Great Hall, making a bee line towards the Slytherin table where Tom was seated at the end, next to Abraxas. Hermione rolled her eyes. It was obvious to her now that she looked, how little interest Tom had in her, but the girl was so pathetic, she refused to see it.

Orion entered a few moments later and strolled confidently up to the Slytherin table, smirking at Hermione, and taking a seat next to Harry. He winked at Hermione, and turned politely towards Harry thrusting his hand towards him with a warm smile.

"Orion Black. You must be Harry." He said politely.

Harry took his hand and shook it, realizing that this man was Sirius' father. As much as he disliked the wailing portrait of Mrs. Black, Sirius had never really talked much about his father. He could see the resemblance though, they had the same blue eyes and dark wavy hair.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I hear you're taking my sister to the ball?" he asked giving him a raised eyebrow. He heard Hermione sigh across the table, and ignored her deciding that it was his duty to give him the third degree as her best friend and fake brother.

"Yeah, that's right, surprisingly, she said yes." Orion said meeting Harry's eyes smiling as he scooped some eggs onto his plate and a few strips of bacon.

"So you like her then?" Harry asked picking up his coffee and taking a sip, keeping his eyes trained on the wizard sitting next to him.

"You don't have to answer that." Hermione said in mortification. Harry didn't even grill Riddle like this.

Orion smirked at Hermione, and winked at her again, before he looked back at Harry evenly, "I do, she's quite enchanting."

"Oh…well that's good then, I guess." Harry said uncomfortably as his eyes shifted from Orion to Hermione. Truthfully, he wasn't expecting him to answer, or for him to be so… _smooth_.

"Harry, I was thinking; you both should join Orion and I in Hogsmeade today. Dorea and I still need to get dresses for the ball, and we could all meet back up for lunch at the Three Broomsticks. What do you think?" Hermione suggested, flicking her gaze towards Orion to gauge his reaction.

"I think that sounds like a good plan; I'd like to get to know the man who wasn't afraid to put Riddle in his place." Orion said grinning at Harry.

Harry bit back a smirk, happy to know he wasn't the only one who didn't like Riddle at Hogwart's.

Hermione couldn't help flick her gaze towards Tom at the mention of his name, and wanted to growl when she saw Isadora practically draping herself over him at the table. She took a small measure of satisfaction seeing how Tom blatantly ignored her as he chatted with Abraxas and Cygnus.

"Isn't that right Hermione?" Orion said, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked in embarrassment, after she had clearly not heard a thing he'd said

"I said that at some point I'm going to get you up in the air on a broom." Orion repeated.

"Oh…I suppose, as long as you promise to go slow." She said looking down at her plate guiltily.

~~{0}~~

At ten, they met in the entrance hall as planned, and Orion held out his arm for Hermione to take. Dorea looped hers through Harry's and laid her head against his shoulder for good measure in case Cygnus was nearby.

Their first stop in Hogsmeade was Zonko's, where Harry and Orion agreed to hang out while the girls went to the dress shop across the street to see what they could find.

Hermione opened the door, hearing the tinkling of the bell as she stepped in, and was greeted by a tall witch who had a warm smile.

"Looking for a dress for the ball, dears?" the witch called out as she met them at the door.

Hermione nodded her head and smiled, and the woman gestured for them to follow her.

"I have a few up here, but I just got a new shipment in just this morning here in the back room. Some of them straight from Paris!" the witch said with excitement.

Dorea looked at Hermione smiling and raising her eyebrows, before she grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her along.

Both girls headed over to the racks, and it didn't take long before Hermione heard Dorea gasp and looked over at her to see what the fuss was about.

Dorea pulled a gown off the rack and clutched it to her chest theatrically, "Oh my god, this is it…Cygnus will absolutely _die_ when he seems me in this." Dorea said as she walked over to the mirror holding the dress up against her chest. It was a red satin floor length gown, that had thin straps and was fitted through the bodice down to where it flared out slightly below the knee.

"How _Gryffindor_ of you." Hermione snorted, "It is really pretty though."

Dorea didn't seem to care that the gown was Gryffindor red, she was more focused on how sexy she would look in it.

Hermione looked back down, and her hand landed on a black strapless gown that was fitted through the bodice, and flared slightly at the hip, falling to her knees. It was simple, elegant, and the classic 'little black dress'. She picked it up off the rack and walked over to the other mirror.

"What do you think of this one?" she asked Dorea.

Dorea looked over at her and smiled, "Yes, absolutely. With the right hairstyle, and lipstick, Tom won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

Hermione snickered. "You forget, I am going to the ball with Orion."

"I haven't forgotten," Dorea said giving Hermione an impish smile, "But, Orion on the other hand…I think he really likes you. You never know, he might just make you forget _all_ about Riddle." Dorea smirked at Hermione wickedly, "I should know, I dated his brother."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind." Hermione said smiling to herself as she took the dress in the fitting rooms.

A few moments later, they heard the older witch's voice again, "How is going, dears? Did you need any assistance with a fitting charm?"

"Actually, I do." Hermione heard Dorea call from behind the curtain, "It's a little long."

Hermione's dress, thankfully fit her like a glove, as if it was meant for her.

After Dorea's dress was adjusted, Hermione waited for her so they could make their purchases.

"Did you need shoes, or any other accessories? We have shoes over there on the right, and towards the back we have hair clips, clutches, and jewelry." The woman offered helpfully.

Hermione and Dorea both took another look around, and they both found a pair or matching heels, and Hermione found a beautiful emerald green silk wrap to compliment her dress along with a few small rhinestone hair pins and an emerald pendant on a small silver chain.

They took their purchases and headed over to the Three Broomsticks to meet Harry and Orion for lunch.

"You finally decided to join us, then?" Orion teased as Hermione slid into the booth next to him, and Dorea slid into the other side next to Harry.

"Trust me, that dress was worth it." Dorea said smirking at Hermione over the butterbeers that the boys had ordered for them.

"Oh? Can I see it then?" Orion said making an effort to peek into her bag.

Hermione smacked his arm playfully, "Don't you dare! You're not allowed to see it until the ball." She said laughing.

He rolled his eyes, looking at her over his glass, "That old tradition? Really, it's not as if we're getting married… _yet_." He said and Hermione promptly choked on her butterbeer.

Harry snorted and pretended to cough when Orion looked at him with his eyebrow raised.

Harry looked over at Dorea and smiled, "And what about you, did you find anything?" he asked, even though he knew she must have judging by the bags she carried.

"Yes, actually, and I'm quite sure that when you see it, you won't be able to keep your hands off me." She said smirking at him. Harry's face promptly turned as red as her dress.

After they ate, they stopped into Honeydukes. Orion asked what sort of sweets Hermione liked, and then went off to look around, leaving Hermione to browse on her own. She was intently looking at the chocolate truffles in the display case when she backed up and collided with a solid body. She turned around quickly, apologizing, when her eyes locked with Tom's.

"Hermione." He said not willing to tear his eyes from hers.

"Tom." She said evenly, getting annoyed with herself when she felt her stomach flutter nervously.

Hermione could see his jaw tighten as his gaze flicked over to where Orion was standing, "So what, is he next? Are you going to take him into the restricted section too? Let him bend you over a desk…"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as Hermione's hand darted out and slapped him hard across the face. The sound of her palm connecting with his cheek echoed across the aisle. His hand moved to his cheek reflexively, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Hermione moved closer to him and whispered icily, "Who I _fuck_ is none of your concern anymore, Tom, I'm just a _mudblood whore_ , remember?"

She saw a flicker of pain in Tom's eyes at her words, and she felt her throat tighten, as she stepped back from him. His mouth parted, just as he was about to say something when Orion stepped around the corner and slid his arm around Hermione's waist possessively.

"Is he bothering you, Hermione?" Orion asked as he sneered at Tom.

"No, of course not. I…" Hermione began before she was interrupted.

"This doesn't concern you, Black." Tom sneered, taking a step towards Orion.

Orion glanced down to where his hand was resting on Hermione's hip, and gave it a squeeze, "On the contrary, Riddle, anything that concerns my girlfriend, concerns me."

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. Since when had she agreed to be Orion's girlfriend? Going to a dance, and to Hogsmeade one time did not mean they were in a relationship. It turned her stomach to think that Orion was using her just to take a jab at Tom.

Before either of them got another word out, she pried Orion's fingers from her hip angrily, "Both of you can piss off!" she spat before she stormed off.

Tom made to go after Hermione, but Orion shoved him before going after her himself.

"Hermione, wait." He called after her as she stepped out of the store.

She rounded on him as soon as he stepped outside, "How could you use me like that?" she asked him crossing her arms over her chest angrily.

"Look, Hermione, I know I shouldn't have, but Riddle had it coming. It looked like whatever he said to you was upsetting you, and I wanted to help. Why are you defending him anyway?" Orion accused.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, and I'm _not_ defending him." Hermione said, still annoyed.

Orion gave her a small smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I know I shouldn't have said it, but the way he was acting, as if he had some kind of a claim on you, made me angry. Honestly, I was a little bit jealous." He said, pulling her towards him as she bit back a smirk.

He nuzzled his lips against her cheek, catching the strawberry scent of her hair.

Hermione took a breath, and tilted her face up just slightly, enough so that he could brush his lips against hers. Her eyes slipped shut, and when she felt his tongue trace her bottom lip, she opened her mouth allowing him to kiss her more deeply. He was a good kisser, which hadn't surprised her at all.

It was in this position a moment later, that Tom saw them as he stepped out of Honeydukes with Isadora, and his eyes narrowed.

Orion broke the kiss, and smirked at Tom over her shoulder before Tom turned away and strode off angrily, with Isadora following along behind him like a lost puppy. Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and his eyes flicked back to hers, "Now, let me buy you some chocolate, and we can get out of here." He said as he brushed his hand over her cheek.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hi all! We're finally at the Ball! I wanted to say that the small interaction in the last chapter between Tom and Hermione at Honeydukes, as well as the scene between them at the ball in this chapter was adapted from The English Patient…which is a fantastic movie (If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend…and well…if you need more incentive, Ralph Fiennes is HOT in it.) to see the actual scene I used, go to youtube and do a search for : "The English Patient Dance With Me" …It was too perfect not to do. I hope you all like this chapter, and please leave me a review! xo**

 **~~{0}~~**

The next few weeks passed in a flurry of classes, studying, and excitement amongst the students as the ball crept closer. Tom had not approached Hermione again, although she still caught him looking at her when he thought no one was looking. His words had stung back at Honeydukes, but she could see it in his eyes that she had hurt him too. Orion of course was attentive as ever, walking her to and from classes, carrying her bag, and trying to get her alone in hidden alcoves at night for a snog. She allowed it a few times, if only to see if he could make her feel the way that Tom had, but there was no jolt of electricity when he touched her, no pulse of desire as his lips moved against hers.

"Hermione…" He whispered against her neck as he pulled her closer against him into one of the secret passages behind a suit of armor.

"Orion, I need to get back." She whispered back to him as he trapped her against the wall with his body capturing her lips and pulling her hips against his so she could feel his arousal.

She gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss and slide his hand down to cup her breast through her blouse.

"Stop…Please…" she said as she pushed against him until he took a step back from her, and she stepped away from him turning away from his eyes.

"It's because of _him_ , isn't it." He said flatly, anger lacing his voice.

Hermione sighed. She really didn't want to hurt him.

"It's not…I'm just…not ready, Orion. Please understand." She said reaching out to him to take his hand.

He gave her a tight smile and nodded, "Of course, I apologize. I shouldn't have assumed…" he started before he trailed off looking away from her.

Hermione stepped closer to him and reached up to cup his cheek to make him look at her.

"I really appreciate you being so patient with me." She said smiling up at him, and he returned her smile more genuinely now and dropped a light kiss to her forehead.

"Not entirely patient." He chuckled giving her a boyish grin, and kissed her again, allowing her to set the pace this time. A few moments later, she broke the kiss, and he walked her back to the common room dutifully.

When she stepped into the dorm, Dorea was there lying on her stomach on her bed flipping through a magazine, _Witch Weekly_ , it looked like.

"Hey Hermione! So I overheard Effy gushing about how Fleamont finally asked her to the ball. It looks like Harry's finally rid of her." Dorea said smirking.

"Oh? That's a relief. And what about you? How is operation _make Cygnus jealous_ going?" she asked as she shrugged out of her blazer and flopped down onto her own bed.

Dorea sighed, "A bit slow, actually, but I'm sure it's working though. Cygnus has always been difficult to read, but he's still glaring at Harry every chance he gets, and I've caught him looking at my legs more than a few times in the last week, so it's progress I suppose. What about you? Orion seems to be quite taken with you." Dorea said wagging her eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione covered her hands with her face remembering _exactly_ how smitten Orion was with her.

"Yes, I think he is." Hermione said in a tone that left something to be desired.

"But?" Dorea asked, knowing Hermione wasn't as excited as she supposed she should be.

"But there's not…I mean, he doesn't make me feel the way that I did when I was with Tom." Hermione admitted, blushing.

"Ah. So you are still in love with him then." Dorea said knowingly.

Hermione groaned. She knew Dorea was right, but her pride wouldn't allow her to run back to him, letting him win.

"Why are you torturing yourself then?" Dorea asked her bluntly, "I mean, it's obvious that he still fancies you, even if he's going to the ball with that stupid cow. Why not just tell him how you feel?"

"You of all people should know why, Dorea. I wouldn't be a very good Slytherin if I did that, now would I?" Hermione chuckled.

"You're not a good Slytherin anyway, Hermione, so why worry now?" Dorea laughed as Hermione's pillow hit her in the face.

"I just…I can't." Hermione said not wanting to elaborate on all of the reasons she could not bring herself to forgive Tom Riddle.

"Suit yourself, then." Dorea said as she tossed Hermione a piece of chocolate and went back to reading her magazine.

~~{0}~~

Hermione awoke the next morning to the sound of giggling in the girl's dormitory. Today was the day that every girl, except for Hermione, that was fourth year and above had been anxiously awaiting; it was Halloween, and more importantly, the day of the ball. She could already overhear conversations about hairstyle ideas and makeup, and Hermione groaned wondering how anyone could care about such things that early in the morning.

Reluctantly, she pulled herself from her cozy bed, and headed to the bathroom so that she could shower and get dressed. Despite the ball taking place that evening, the students were still expected to attend morning classes, although all afternoon classes has been cancelled for the occasion.

She headed down to breakfast and slipped into the seat next to Orion who was already sitting across from Harry and Dorea. As she turned to greet Orion, he was smirking at her, and wandlessly transfigured an apple he had been holding into a deep red rose. The movement instantly recalled her first 'date' with Tom to the slug club party, when he had done very much the same thing with a twig he had been holding in the common room. She took the rose from Orion, and held it to her nose, noting that it actually still smelled like an apple. She tried to bite back a smirk when the thought crossed her mind that Tom's transfiguration skills had been far superior, but she kept that thought to herself and thanked him graciously all the same. It was the thought that counted after all, right?

"I'm looking forward to tonight." Orion whispered in her ear, and giving her a naughty grin that she could tell had nothing to do with dancing. Clearly, he was hoping that she would be ready to take their relationship to the next level, and the thought made her more than a little anxious. He was definitely attractive, that wasn't the issue, it was just that…well, he wasn't Tom.

Classes passed by in a blur, and before Hermione knew it, it was time to start getting ready for the ball. Hermione took her bathrobe and slippers, along with a few toiletries and decided to slip off to the prefect's bathroom for a soak before it was time to get dressed and begin taming her riotous hair. After about an hour, she pulled herself from the rose scented water, and slipped her bathrobe on before making her way back to the dungeons, since she had agreed to let Dorea style her hair. By the time Hermione arrived, Dorea had already managed to tame her own black hair into perfectly coiffed victory rolls held in place by a few ruby hair pins. She looked every bit a vintage movie star, and she was sure even Harry would drool.

"There you are, I was about to send out a search party." Dorea joked as Hermione walked in, dropping her toiletries on her bed.

"I had a soak in the prefect's bath. I still can't believe that no one ever uses it, it's amazing." Hermione admitted.

"Well, you're right on time, take a seat." Dorea ordered as she went to work running her fingers through Hermione's unruly damp hair.

"Straight or curly?" Dorea asked.

"Huh?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Do you want me to straighten your hair, or do you want to keep it curly?" Dorea clarified.

"Oh…um…" Hermione thought for a moment, "I suppose you can keep it curly, maybe just relax the curl a bit so it's easier to work with?" Hermione suggested.

Dorea nodded, "I know just the thing."

Hermione took the magazine that Dorea handed her, and she idly flipped through the pages looking at the wizarding world's gossip of the 1940's.

Thirty minutes later, she heard Dorea finally clear her throat and say, "Alright, tell me what you think."

Hermione looked up into the mirror that Dorea handed her and she gasped. Her hair was loosely curled, and pulled back from her face, pinned into place in a loose chignon using the emerald hair pins Hermione had purchased in Hogsmeade.

"I love it!" Hermione said genuinely admiring Dorea's handiwork.

Dorea blew out a relieved breath, "Thank God, because I don't actually have time to re-do it." She laughed, "Now, let's do your makeup, and then you can get dressed."

A few quick makeup charms later, and a special sticking charm for their lipstick completed their looks. Dorea had gone for Bold dark smokey eyes with blood red lips, where Hermione chose light eye makeup just enough to accentuate, and a nude shade of lipstick. When they had finished getting dressed and slipped on their shoes, Hermione felt a nervous fluttering in her stomach. Her whole plan initially had led her to this moment; she wanted to make Tom jealous by going with Orion and looking irresistible. Now that the ball was here, and she knew Orion truly liked her, she was feeling a tad guilty, and also quite a bit nervous. She had made Tom Jealous, several times over, but what had she hoped to gain? He would be at the ball with Isadora, and she would be there with Orion. The thought that she and Tom were well and truly over made her stomach clench. She took a deep breath, and looked up at Dorea and gasped. Simply put, she looked stunning. Her crimson red satin gown draped her frame, accentuating her figure in all of the right places, and paired with her pale complexion and black hair that was styled reminiscent to old Hollywood, which, she supposed was actually not so old at the present, and her dark red lips, she was sure just about every man in the room would be admiring her. Hermione on the other hand, was more Audrey Hepburn to Dorea's Rita Hayworth. She gathered her emerald silk wrap over her arms, and brushed her fingers over her emerald tear-drop pendant that sat in the hollow of her throat.

"Ready?" she asked Dorea as she took one last glimpse at her reflection in the mirror.

"As I'll ever be. If Cygnus doesn't leave the ball with me tonight, I give up." Dorea said sighing.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Hermione smirked.

~~{0}~~

"Is everything prepared?" Edmund whispered to Cygnus in the dormitory after the others had already headed down to the common room to collect their dates.

"Yes. Everyone knows the plan and will be looking for my signal come midnight." Cygnus replied quickly, making a show of straightening his tie and making sure his hair was neat.

"Excellent. I wish to be rid this particular problem as soon as possible." Edmund said, his nose wrinkling in distaste as he fiddled with his silver cufflinks.

Cygnus didn't respond, but smirked up at Edmund in the mirror before he too left the dormitory to meet his date, Evelyn Greengrass. Edmund took a deep breath, and steadied his nerves. Tonight, Tom Riddle would be brought to his knees before his superiors like the pathetic half-blood that he was. Edmund smirked just thinking about how Tom would scream under his wand, before he headed to the common room.

~~{0}~~

As Dorea and Hermione stepped into the Slytherin common room, a few audible gasps were heard and many necks craned around to admire them. Orion had been chatting with his brother Cygnus when he noticed Cygnus' mouth drop open, and his attention clearly elsewhere. Orion turned to see what he was looking at, when he noticed Dorea and Hermione. Hermione looked stunning, but he knew Cygnus was focused completely on the vision in red. He smirked, turning back to his younger brother, and lifted his hand to close his mouth for him before he whispered close to his ear

"Careful brother, she isn't your date."

Cygnus smirked in return as his eyes flicked from Dorea to Harry, then back to Orion, "She may not be going with me to the ball, but she'll be _leaving_ with me."

Orion chuckled at his brother's confidence and walked away to greet Hermione.

"Hermione, you look Stunning." Orion said, once again offering her a rose, this time a white one that he slipped over her wrist as a corsage.

Hermione's eyes met Orion's blue ones, and she gave him a smile. She looked over at Harry, and couldn't help but chuckle as Harry tripped over his own feet walking towards Dorea, completely stunned by her beauty. It was then that she saw Tom step into the room, and her breath caught in her throat as their eyes locked. He looked even more handsome than usual in his pristine black dress robes. He had stopped in his tracks the moment his eyes fell on her, and she saw his adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed before quickly looking away. She watched him cross the common room and slip out of the portrait hole most likely to go collect Isadora from Ravenclaw. The thought momentarily darkened her mood, but she quickly shook it off as Orion, who also looked quite dashing pulled her arm through his and led her to the door so that they could make their way to the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a Halloween themed ball room.

As they strolled into the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling was a replica of the night darkened sky filled with thousands of floating candles. There were round tables complete with Jack O'Lanterns scattered around the room, and a long table along one wall that held punch, wine, and light refreshments. There was also a large dance floor with a jazz band assembled on the dais. Many couples had begun to assemble in the hall, claiming tables to set down their belongings so they wouldn't have to hold them while they danced. Not long after, Professor Dumbledore took to the stage and welcomed all the students to the annual Halloween ball, and reminded them all of the rules before bidding them to have an enjoyable evening.

Orion immediately dragged Hermione to the dance floor and she laughed as he pulled her along. The last time she had been at a dance was in her fourth year at the yule ball with Viktor Krum, and she had remembered how much fun she had dancing. She was glad to see that Orion wasn't going to act like Ron or Harry and sit the entire evening, never asking her to dance. She had already lectured Harry as well, telling him that she didn't want this ball to be a repeat of the yule ball, especially since Dorea had so been looking forward to it, and he promised that he would dance with her.

As it turned out, Harry didn't need much encouragement, and he held out his hand to Dorea asking her for the first dance. She nodded graciously, and placed her hand in his as he swept her onto the dance floor, pulling her close.

"You know, I never thanked you for going along with all of this for me." She said quietly as she rested her head against his shoulder. In the time leading up to the ball, they had spent quite a bit of time together, and had actually become quite good friends.

"Yeah…um…you don't need to thank me." He said awkwardly as he rubbed his thumb over her exposed skin at the small of her back.

She felt the small movement, and lifted her head to look up into his green eyes. Her eyes searched his, and she realized that at some point along the way, he had truly begun to like her. She tilted her face up towards his and his head dipped slightly to brush her lips with his, and she leaned closer to him, picking up on the light scent of his aftershave, and smiled softly. She couldn't deny that she was attracted to Harry, and despite having asked him to go along with her charade, at this moment, she didn't have to pretend.

Across the dancefloor, Hermione looked around the large hall as she swayed to the soft music in Orion's arms, and she saw Isadora and Tom walk in. Isadora was wearing a pale blue gown that hugged all of her curves and Hermione had to grudgingly admit, that it looked quite good on her. She knew it was too much to hope that Isadora would be wearing some god-awful hideous dress, considering how pretty the girl was, but Hermione just sighed and said a silent prayer for Isadora to have a wardrobe malfunction. Or that maybe someone would spill a glass of red wine down the front of her dress. She bit back a smirk and looked up at Orion who was gazing at her intently.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, having watched the emotions playing out on her face.

"Nothing really, just taking in the atmosphere. What about you?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to hear what he'd been thinking, or most likely _fantasizing_ about.

"Me? Well, I was just thinking about a beautiful witch who happens to be in my arms, and about all of the wicked things I'd like to do to her later…" Orion smirked at her.

She smacked his arm playfully, "You're incorrigible." She laughed as the song finally ended.

"Would you like a drink, Hermione?" Orion asked politely as he relinquished his hold on her.

"Wine would be excellent, thank you." She said heading back over to the table she and Dorea had chosen.

By the time Orion returned with her wine, Dorea and Harry had joined them at the table, and she couldn't help but notice that Dorea's eyes hadn't once strayed from Harry's. _Interesting._

She elbowed Harry to get his attention and nodded towards Effy and Fleamont dancing closely over on the dancefloor, completely caught up in each other. Harry smiled at the sight of his grandparents, knowing that eventually, they would marry and give birth to his father, James.

Dorea caught sight of where they were looking, "They do look good together, don't they? Like they were meant to be." she said wistfully.

' _You have no idea_ ', Harry thought, but smiled and nodded his agreement.

Hermione finished her wine, and before she knew it, she was following Orion back onto the dance floor to dance to some of the more upbeat songs, laughing as he was trying to show her his moves. A little while later, another slower one began, and Orion once again pulled her close. Partway through their dance, Orion felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and he turned around.

"May I cut in?" Hermione heard someone's voice say, and she looked up to meet the dark brown eyes of Edmund Lestrange. Orion didn't particularly like Edmund, but had no reason to deny him, so he looked back to Hermione for her permission before stepping aside. Edmund took Hermione's small hand in his, and rested his hand on her waist as he gazed down at her with an unreadable look.

"I had wondered what it was the he saw in you, but now I think I understand." Edmund said as he squeezed the hand at her waist and leered at her.

Hermione gasped and made to pull out of his grasp, but he held her firmly, "Tsk, tsk, hasn't anyone told you that's no way to treat your superiors?" He said as he brushed his lips against her cheek, inhaling her scent.

"Is there a problem, here?" A familiar voice came from behind her, and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest.

 _Tom._

"Not at all, Tom, Hermione and I were just getting acquainted, weren't we, _Hermione_?" He said giving her waist another squeeze.

Her breath hitched, and that was all Tom needed to hear to know that something was wrong.

"Edmund, I believe I saw your date looking for you over by the refreshments. You wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea, now, would you?" he said silkily.

Edmund smirked before he took a step back, releasing his grip on Hermione, "Of course not," and then he looked back to Hermione with a fake smile, "Thank you for the dance" before he strode away.

Before Tom could say anything more, Orion stepped back up to Hermione's side, and looked from her to Tom.

"What are you doing here, _Riddle_?" Orion asked barely containing a snarl.

Hermione looked up at Orion and placed a calming hand on his chest, "Don't... _Please_ …" She saw Tom's jaw clench at her whispered plea, but before she could think on it, Orion wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back to their table. When he offered to get her another glass of wine, she nodded and then walked out of the Great Hall and out of the castle's front doors to get some air. She stood on the steps, looking up at the night sky and the thousands of stars twinkling above, and she shivered, pulling her silk wrap tighter over her shoulders.

"What did he say to you?" Tom's voice came from behind her once again. He stood in the doorway, his stormy grey eyes meeting hers.

"He was just reminding me of _my_ _place_." She said bitterly turning away from him once again to look up at the stars.

She heard his steps moving closer, and her eyes slipped shut, and her stomach fluttered at his nearness when she felt the jolt of electricity that she always felt at his touch when his fingers skimmed the bare skin between her shoulder blades. She could feel his body press against hers from behind, and she bit her lip as she fought the urge to melt into him.

"What do you want from me, Tom?" She whispered, trying to keep her voice even

"I've watched you, I've watched you in class, and at meals…dancing with _him_...How can you _stand there_? How can you stand there and _smile_ as if your life hadn't capsized?" he said through gritted teeth

Hermione's heart was beating wildly in her chest, and a tear slipped down her cheek at his words, "You _know_ why." She said softly.

He dipped his head lower, nuzzling into her hair, "Dance with me." He whispered.

She didn't trust herself to speak, and she shook her head.

"Dance with me…I want to touch you…I want the things that are _mine_ , which belong to _me_." he said more forcefully, skimming his fingers down her spine making her shiver.

She turned to face him then, letting him see her tears, "Do you think you're the only one who feels anything? Is that what you think?" she said before she attempted to move past him to go back inside before he caught her arm and pulled her back against his chest, "Tell me you feel nothing for me, and I'll walk away."

She held her breath, unable to speak. After several moments he released his hold on her and stepped away from her, walking towards the doors before she called out to him in a desperate plea

"Tom!" she cried, her hand outstretched, her heart clenching painfully in her chest at the thought of him walking away, and he stopped. He turned slowly to face her, and she rushed into his arms, their lips crashing together in a desperate kiss, pushing all of the emotions they had been feeling the past weeks into it.

Neither one of them noticed Orion step into the doorway holding her glass of wine.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Hi all! I made some minor revisions to this chapter since it's been posted, so please give a re-read! xo ~Sharkdiver**

~~{0}~~

Orion watched Hermione responding to Tom in a way that she had never responded to him, and he felt anger and jealousy twisting in his gut. He heard someone step up beside him, and he turned his head to see his brother beside him.

"If you want revenge brother, tonight, you shall have it." Cygnus said cryptically, motioning for Orion to follow him.

Orion took a last glance at the two lovers still caught up in eachother's embrace, before striding off after Cygnus, the wine glass falling from his hand to shatter on the flagstones.

~~(0}~~

The sound of glass breaking had pulled Hermione out of her little bubble that only included Tom, when she had remembered Orion. She broke the kiss, and rushed through the door, finding only a shattered wine glass and the puddle of crimson liquid on the floor surrounded by shards of broken glass.

"Shit." She whispered, and Tom was at her side giving her a questioning look.

"Oh, Tom, there you are." Isadora simpered before her eyes shifted to Hermione, and they turned hard and cold

"When are you going to take the hint, mudblood, Tom isn't interested." Isadora spat gliding over to Tom, and grasping his arm.

Hermione had enough. Her head whipped up and her eyes narrowed at Isadora as she took a step towards her, as Tom tried to extricate himself from her grip.

"I dare you, Isadora, to say that _one. more. time_." Hermione snarled.

Tom's eyes widened, and he couldn't help it when the corners of his lips twitched.

"What? You are just a stupid mudblo-" Isadora began before she was promptly silenced by Hermione's fist connecting with her mouth.

Tom looked in shock from Isadora to Hermione, and barked out a surprised laugh.

Hermione wasn't quite finished, though. She stepped towards the girl who was now bent forward, with her hands clutched over her mouth, making pathetic whimpering noises, and grasped a handful of her bleach blond hair.

"The next time you even think about looking at me or Tom, a punch in the mouth will be the least of your worries." Hermione spat before shoving Isadora away from her.

"Tom! Are you really going to let that _mudblood_ speak to me like that?" Isadora shrieked incredulously.

Tom's lips curled up into an evil smirk, and he stepped over to Isadora before he leaned down into her ear and whispered.

"The next time you call my girlfriend a mudblood, I'll kill you and make it look like an accident."

Hermione couldn't hear what he said to Isadora, but she saw the pathetic girl's eyes widen in fright, as she looked helplessly from Hermione to Tom, and then ran off.

"What did you say to her?" Hermione asked him, her eyes looking at him critically.

"I simply told her that it wasn't working out between us." Tom smirked as he pulled Hermione back into his arms, kissing her hungrily.

She smiled against his lips, not believing for a moment that was what he actually said. She reluctantly pulled away from him, and sighed.

"Well, I should probably find Orion then, and apologize."

Tom stiffened in her arms.

"What?" he asked sharply

Hermione smirked.

"I'm breaking things off with him, Tom." She said cupping his cheek and pulling his face back towards hers. She felt him relax, and nodded.

"Maybe I should handle it." Tom suggested, looking at Hermione wearily.

Hermione scoffed, "No way. I know you would get far too much enjoyment out of that, and I'd much rather spend the night doing much more pleasant things that healing you after he punches you."

Tom snorted indelicately, "If you think for a moment that I can't take Orion Black in a fight, you are sorely mistaken. You do recall how I handled Dolohov, do you not?"

Hermione shivered at the reminder, "How could I forget? Still, I wish to spare his feelings all the same."

Tom chuckled, "You know, you really are a terrible Slytherin."

Hermione smirked before she stepped out of his arms again, "Well, it's a good thing I'm actually a Gryffindor then." Before she strode back into the Great Hall in search of Orion.

He was sitting over at the table chatting amiably with Harry and Dorea when Hermione approached, and she was a bit confused. She was sure he had to have seen her and Tom, yet he was acting as if nothing was wrong.

"Hermione, I was just about to go look for you. I got your wine. I had assumed you stepped out to find the loo." Orion said pulling out a seat for her.

Hermione furrowed her brows, wondering if she had been mistaken and that maybe someone else had dropped the wine glass?

"Oh…yes, thank you. Actually, Orion…can we talk privately for a moment?" she asked, her eyes flicking from him to Harry before meeting his gaze once more.

She notices his jaw clench for a fraction of a second, before he stood and smiled brightly, "Of course. Please excuse us." He said glancing over to Harry and Dorea.

Harry noticed the look on Hermione's face and knew something was up, and he made a mental note to ask her about it later. He was lost in his thoughts when he noticed Cygnus striding towards their table.

"Dorea, you look beautiful this evening. Would you care to dance?" he asked holding out his hand to her.

Dorea looked at Harry, and blushed, and Harry looked down giving her a small smile and nodded, letting her know that it was alright if she wanted to go.

"Yes, okay." She said as she placed her hand in his, and followed him to the dance floor.

~~{0}~~

Orion followed Hermione into a supply closet just off the great hall so that they could speak in private.

Before Hermione was able to say anything, Orion pushed her up against the wall, and captured her lips in his, grabbing her wrists and pinning them over her head.

She gasped in surprise, and tried to push him off of her, when she felt him push his leg between hers to force her legs apart. Her eyes widened in shock, and she struggled trying to get free as tears sprang to her eyes. His mouth finally left hers to trail rough kisses over her jaw and down her throat, and she could feel his teeth scraping her skin.

"Orion, please…stop…please." She begged. From this position, she couldn't knee him in the groin, and he was much stronger than she was.

"Why should I stop? You have no problem letting Riddle put his filthy paws all over you." He snapped angrily

"Please don't do this!" she pleaded feeling panic setting in.

~~{0}~~

"My lord, can we speak in private for a moment?" Abraxas asked quietly as he leaned towards Tom, his gaze following Cygnus and Dorea swaying to the music on the dance floor.

Tom's jaw clenched, and he nodded almost imperceptibly, as he followed Abraxas as he began to lead the way out of the Great hall, and towards the main staircase.

"Tom stopped, looked at Abraxas suspiciously, "Where are you going?"

"Abraxas cleared his throat, his eyes shifted nervously, and a bead of sweat was forming on his upper lip, "To the seventh floor, my lord. This matter requires privacy." He said quietly, hoping that Tom would understand his meaning and follow him.

"Tom nodded, his eyes hard and his jaw clenched, and then Abraxas began to turn around and proceed up the stairs leading the way. Abraxas had the nerve to pull him out of the ball room, and then demand that they speak in private in the room of requirement. For obvious reasons, he couldn't say anything whilst in the hallway, but when they were behind closed doors, he was going to remind Abraxas just who was in charge, and punish him accordingly for his impudence. Not to mention Lestrange's little stunt with Hermione…he would definitely enjoy punishing him.

~~{0}~~

"So what are you doing with that mudblood? Are you trying to make me jealous?" Cygnus snapped, grasping Dorea's hip tightly.

Dorea flushed angrily. She had meant to make him jealous, but hearing him insult Harry so casually made her blood boil. She used to think the same way, until she had befriended Hermione and Harry, and she no longer felt comfortable using that awful word.

"Cygnus, don't be a prick." She snapped trying to pull away from him, but he kept a tight grasp on her, not allowing her to pull away.

"Oh come on, Dorea, don't tell me you have forgotten all those nights in my dorm…" he said haughtily, raising an eyebrow at her, and smirking.

Never before had anyone made her feel as much of a whore as he did in that moment and she tried to wriggle away from him again.

"Easy now, D, we wouldn't want your mudblood boyfriend to get the wrong idea, now would we?" He said nuzzling his nose against her cheek.

"Fuck you, Cygnus. I hope you do remember those nights in your dorm, because it's never going to happen again." She spat and pulled her knee up to his groin.

His eyes widened, clearly not expecting her to have done that, and he dropped to the ground with a groan like a sack of potatoes.

Harry was already halfway across the dancefloor as she launched herself into his arms, and he looked in confusion from her down to the heap that was Cygnus on the ground.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, leading her off the dancefloor, over to the entrance of the great hall.

"He insulted you." Dorea said before looking up at Harry as he looked at her in wonder, and he snorted.

"You just kneed Cygnus in the balls…because of me?" he asked laughing pulling her into a hug.

"Well, not entirely, he said some inappropriate things to me as well. I guess I finally realized he wasn't as special as I thought." She shrugged.

"Come on, let's get some air." He said chuckling as he led her out of the Great Hall.

As they walked towards the entrance hall, he heard a thud come from the nearby supply closet, and looked over at it with furrowed brows.

Dorea chuckled, "Probably just Orion and Hermione having a bit of a snog…I haven't seen them in a while, have you?" she asked, when she noticed the frown on his face.

Before she could stop him, he was moving swiftly across the corridor and pulled his wand, unlocking the door with a wandless non-verbal _alohomora_. His eyes widened in shock, and then anger as he saw Orion pressing Hermione against the wall, her face tearstained as he was fumbling with her clothes.

Harry grabbed Orion by the back of his dress robes and pulled him off of Hermione, which he clearly hadn't been expecting, and as he looked back up, it was into the furious green eyes of Harry Potter, whose Black holly wand was pointing between his eyes.

"Hermione, come here, you're safe now." Harry said as she rushed from the closet and Dorea wrapped her in a protective hug.

"Harry, I need to find Tom…he's gone to the seventh floor with Abraxas."

"Yes why don't we all go to the seventh floor, shall we?" another voice cut in from behind.

Harry, Hermione, and Dorea turned to see Cygnus pointing his wand at them, and motioning for them to start heading upstairs. His gaze then fell on Orion, who was currently on his knees in front of Harry.

"Really Brother, how many times have I told you to use a silencing spell?" Cygnus said rolling his eyes, sure that the only reason Harry had interrupted Orion was because he had forgotten to put a silencing spell over the room, "It's no matter now, shall we go?" he said in almost a jovial tone as he pointed his wand at Harry's back, watching to make sure Harry lowered his wand.

The group began to slowly ascend the stairs, making their way to the room of requirement.

~~{0}~~

Tom paced back and forth in front of the seventh floor wall, waiting for the door to his meeting place to appear. After his third pass, the door materialized, and he barged through it angrily, stopping in his tracks when he saw all of his knights assembled facing them, wearing hooded cloaks and silver masks.

"I haven't called a meeting, what is the meaning of this?" he spat turning back to look at Abraxas who had his wand already trained on him.

Tom sneered as he heard someone take a step forward. Edmund Lestrange stepped out in front of the assembled wizards, and removed his mask.

"Hello, Tom." Edmund said coldly, a evil smirk adorning his face.

"Lestrange." Tom said coolly, not wanting to make them think they were intimidating him.

"You see, the boys and I have been doing a bit of thinking lately…it seems that you've lost sight of our mission. At first, we all thought it was a clever ploy to lure information from the mudbloods… _but oh no_ …that wasn't it at all. Then to have such arrogance to assume that no one would dare question the powerful Tom Riddle, when in truth, you're nothing but a filthy half-blood. You're nothing but a _disgrace_ to the name of Slytherin." Edmund spat

Tom growled drawing his wand when a curse suddenly struck him in the back.

Abraxas.

Edmund stepped forward and kicked Tom's wand away from his hand, and his eye glittered as he looked down on him and whispered, " _Crucio_."

Hermione heard the screams as she neared the top of the staircase leading to the seventh floor, and she sprinted ahead towards the room of requirement. It was Tom, he was in serious trouble. Her heart was racing as she clawed at the bricks, wanting desperately to tear a hole in the wall to get to him.

"Tom! Tom I'm coming!" she screamed, as tears streamed down her face

Dorea, Harry, Cygnus and Orion had finally caught up, and he motioned for Orion to restrain Hermione and Dorea while he revealed the door. After keeping his wand trained on Harry, and passing the wall three times, the door appeared, and he opened it, ushering them inside.

Tom lay on the floor, still twitching from the aftermath of the cruciatus curse, and Hermione shoved Orion off of her as she ran to him, collapsing on the floor beside him.

"Well, well, look what we have here, Tom. Your little _mudblood_ has come to rescue you. _How pathetic._ " Edmund spat as Hermione's eyes flicked up to his, and a powerful rage built inside of her. Before she knew what she was doing, her wand was in her hand, and a fiery serpent sprang forth from the tip of her wand surging towards the hooded figures. One by one they all dove out of the way, and Harry immediately sprang into action, shoving Dorea to the ground to keep her safe and disarming Cygnus and Orion. Hermione aimed her wand and shot a _stupefy_ at Lestrange, and she heard him fall to the ground with a dull thud.

She knelt beside Tom and helped him up, summoning his wand from where is had sat forgotten in the corner, and handed it to him. She could see the rage burning in his eyes, and for a moment, his eyes flashed red and her breath caught in her throat.

He stood, watching Hermione's fire serpent chase his knights, and smirked at the sound of their shrieks as they ran in fear. His witch was truly something else.

Then he spotted Lestrange, lying still on the floor.

For once, Hermione did not try to stop him.

A predatory smile graced his face, and his hands still occasionally gave the odd twitch from the aftermath of the cruciatus curse.

Harry rushed to Hermione's side, and watched as Tom approached Edmund Lestrange. Just then, Abraxas attempted to curse Tom again from behind, and in the blink of an eye, Harry disarmed him before he could fire off the curse.

Tom looked over his shoulder to see Abraxas' wand sail into Harry's outstretched hand, and he nodded at Harry in thanks.

Hermione's mouth gaped open. Did Harry Potter just defend Tom Riddle? If she had any doubts before about how their presence in the past had affected the timeline, those doubts were now gone.

Tom turned back to a wild eyed Edmund, and his lip curled in disgust, "I think you'll find that the only filth here is _you_."

Tom felt Hermione's hand land on his arm, and he stilled briefly, looking down at her in annoyance.

"Don't kill him, Tom." She said quietly, and she glanced down to see relief pass through Edmund's eyes as he stared helplessly up at them from his stupefied position.

"An _Obliviate_ , should do the trick." Hermione spat smirking up at Tom.

"As my lady commands." Tom said, dropping a kiss on her cheek before moving his focus back to Lestrange.

"Now, where were we…." Tom said as an evil smirk graced his lips.

~~{0}~~

"Hermione, are you sure we should have left him in there alone with them? He'll probably kill them and…" Harry was saying before Hermione interrupted.

"Trust me, Harry, they won't remember a thing." She said giving him a small smile as he led her and Dorea back to the Slytherin common room.

When they reached the common room, it was still empty, seeing as most everyone was still at the dance, or having their memories modified back in the room of requirement. Hermione pretended not to notice the way Dorea and Harry were looking at each other, and instead crept into the boy's dormitory to wait for Tom. She was fairly certain that none of the other Slytherin boys, aside from Harry of course, would be returning to their room tonight, and she was pretty certain Harry wouldn't be either. It wasn't difficult to see which bed had belonged to Tom, as it was precisely made, and his trunk lay underneath with his name on it. Hermione bit her lip mischievously, and removed her dress and wrap, until she was dressed in nothing but her black strapless bra, her black panties, garters, and thigh highs. She even left her emerald pendant around her neck. She hid her clothes in his trunk, and crawled onto his bed, lying atop of it with her legs crossed neatly at the ankles, and leaned back against his headboard with the curtains drawn around his bed, just in case anyone else decided to walk in.

Not ten minutes later, she heard someone enter the room and head towards the bed, and she heard the footsteps pause for a moment.

She bit her lip to stifle a chuckle, since she was sure it was Tom, and he was probably suspicious as to why his bed curtains were closed, when he had clearly left them open. She schooled her features, and waited patiently for him to approach. The curtains suddenly flew open, and he stood at the foot of the bed with his wand drawn, and she gave him a naughty smirk when his eyes widened at her appearance. She watched as his eyes trailed up her almost bare legs, over her black lacy underthings, and up to her face, where his gaze locked with hers, smoldering with lust.

"What are you waiting for, a written invitation?" she said raising an eyebrow at him as he gaped at her, and she chuckled as he fumbled with his dress robes, trying to pull them off in a hurry.

"You know, you're not supposed to be in the boys dormitory, Miss Jones. As a Prefect, I could have you written up for that." He said smirking at her as he finally kicked his pants off, so that he was down to nothing but his boxers.

"Oh, shall I leave then?" she asked innocently, and laughed as he tossed her back on the bed, covering her mouth with his.

A moment later, she pulled away from him, "You didn't kill anyone, did you?" she asked stopping his advance with a finger over his mouth.

He snorted, "No, though it would have been far more satisfying. I modified their memories, as you suggested. They'll wake up in the room of requirement tomorrow morning, with no memories of ever having associated with me, or of last night's events. They'll think they got drunk after the ball, and passed out up there. By the way, where did you learn that spell? It seems a bit dark for _you_ , doesn't it?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.

She bit her lip shyly and admitted, "I may have borrowed that one from Lord Voldemort."

His mouth dropped open and he started kissing her hungrily. He pulled her on top of him so that she was straddling his hips, and she moaned when she felt how hard he was beneath her.

"As much as I really like these knickers, they have to go." He said as he snapped his fingers and she yelped when she looked down and realized she was now completely naked.

"That's much better." He said with a groan as she lowered herself onto his cock, and began to ride him. His hands raked over her hips and she let out a breathy moan every time he sank back into her, and his thumb began to rub her clit as he pumped into her.

"Fuck yes…Hermione…you're so perfect… _fuck_ …" he was mumbling as she began to pick up the pace, feeling her orgasm building up every time his cock his that spot deep inside of her.

"Tom…please don't stop..." she moaned looking down at him with hooded eyes.

She cried out a few moments later as her orgasm swept through her, and she felt her muscles clamp down around him, which sent him over the edge right behind her. She was breathing heavily as she collapsed on his chest, and she couldn't remember ever feeling happier, despite the events that took place earlier that evening, as she looked into his eyes.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you all so much! This story has 78 favorites and 171 follows! I am so happy that you guys have stuck with me on this crazy ride! I want to mention, I went back to the last chapter (ch 19) and made a few small revisions, so please go re-read that chapter before you read this one…This story, is about half finished, or maybe a little more than half! What will happen when they return to the future?! Please let me know what you think! I want to give a special shout out to LadyK – thank you for your awesome reviews! I would thank many more of you personally, but so many of you review as guests, so I don't know who you are…but still…THANK YOU!**

 **If you haven't checked out my other Tomione stories, please show them some love! I know many of you are probably also reading Bound, but I also have some fun short stories, as well as 3 other longer WIPs: Beauty and the Beast (this is my take on Beauty and the Beast with Voldemort as the Beast, and Hermione as Belle!), Closer (Hot Goth Rockstar Tom as "Lord Voldemort" and Bookworm Hermione meet at a private party…lots of smut!), and Elixir of life (Vampire Tom! And waitress Hermione - this is my HP version of "True Blood"!)**

 **~~{0}~~**

Dorea looked up into Harry's green eyes, her own eyes searching his, and pulled him towards her bed. He seemed to hesitate for only a moment, but his protest died on his lips when she let the red satin gown fall to the floor.

"Are you sure?" He asked, swallowing thickly

"Come here, Harry." She said evenly, holding out her hand to him.

He stepped towards her, pulling her to his chest as his lips met hers. She tasted sweet, like strawberries, and his attraction towards her warred with the knowledge that she wasn't meant for him. He pushed the thoughts away and focused on her creamy porcelain skin, and her fingers that were undoing the buttons of his dress robes.

His lips trailed down her neck, and he could feel her pulse hammering wildly beneath them, as she pushed his robes off, exposing his pale chest. He guided her back towards the bed, and she pulled him down with her, never breaking the kiss. She curled her leg over his hip, pulling him closer as he slid his hand down between them, making her gasp when he slipped a finger into her. Her eyes locked with his, as she rocked against him, and she hooked her thumb into the waist band of his pants, pushing them down until she felt his hardness against her thigh. He pulled back from her, sliding his hands down the undersides of her thighs as he sunk into her with a groan. Dorea cried out as he entered her, throwing her head back and biting her lip as he moved against her. His head dipped down, and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth as she moaned his name, leaving crescent shaped marks from her nails in his back. He picked up his pace at her encouragement, her moans becoming more frequent as her eyes slipped shut, and he could tell that she was close.

"I'm going to…" she began to say before she arched up into him and cried out, pulling him against her as he climaxed just after. He rolled onto his back beside her, still breathing heavily, not sure of what he should say.

"Harry, I…" she began to say, before he silenced her with a kiss.

"I can't stay." He whispered into the darkness, and he felt her stiffen beside him.

"What do you mean, Harry?" She asked nervously.

Harry sighed, "There's a lot you don't know, Dorea. You and I, aren't meant to happen, as much as I wish we were."

"I don't understand" she said, anger lacing her voice. _Had he just done to her what he did to Effy_?

"If I could change things, I would, I'm sorry." He said looking at her sadly.

"Get out! I thought you were different!" she said as her face crumpled, and she began to cry. His heart was breaking as he looked at her, and he reached for her to try and soothe her when he found her wand pointed at him.

"Get. Out." She said evenly, and he held up his hands and grabbed his clothes from the floor, covering himself as he backed slowly away. As soon as he was in the hallway, he pulled his pants on hurriedly, and ran to the boy's dormitory.

~~{0}~~

Tom leaned up on his elbow and looked at Hermione as she lay naked in his bed, her hair sprawling wildly over his pillow.

"You're beautiful." He whispered, tracing her collarbone with his index finger.

She blushed, and bit her bottom lip, and she glanced up at him before she furrowed her eyebrows seemingly deep in thought.

"I can tell when you are thinking about something intensely. What is it?" he asked nuzzling his nose into her hair.

"Tom, what if…what if you come with us?" she suddenly blurted out.

It took him a moment to understand what she was saying.

"Go with you…into the future?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I've been thinking about it, and it makes sense." She said as she looked up into his eyes, "I want to be with you, but I can't stay here. What would happen to me fifty years from now when I am born? I could suddenly disappear, Tom." She said.

He looked down at her, thinking about what she was saying, and seemed to be working something out in his head when he nodded, "A time correction. It's entirely possible."

"But moving forward in time would not have the same result." She added.

He seemed to mull over what she was saying, but he hadn't yet responded.

"It could be a fresh start, Tom." She said reaching up her hand to cup his cheek.

His eyes slid to hers, searching their depths, and he finally nodded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him passionately.

They were interrupted by the sound of someone entering the dormitory, and Tom looked down at Hermione and pressed his finger to his lips to signal her to remain quiet, and his grabbed his wand, and poked his head out from behind the bed curtains.

"Oh, it's just you." Tom said looking at Harry's rumpled appearance and the pained look on his face, "What happened to you?" he asked him.

"Nothing that I care to discuss with you." Harry snapped rubbing a hand over his face.

"Harry?" another voice, Hermione's, could be heard from behind the curtain, and then her face suddenly appeared beside Tom's.

"I thought you were with Dorea?" she asked looking at him in confusion.

Harry sighed, he really did not want to discuss it while the two of them were probably still naked…

"Could you maybe, put some clothes on?" Harry said in exasperation.

"Oh, right…hang on." Hermione said before she disappeared back behind the curtain, pulling Tom in with her. A few moments and a giggle later, they pulled the curtains and climbed off of the bed fully dressed.

"What happened?" Hermione asked going over to sit at the end of Harry's bed, while Tom stood beside her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I slept with Dorea." Harry said pinching the bridge of his nose.

Hermione looked up at Tom, and had to bite back a smirk when she looked back at Harry.

"So why do you look like someone just died?" Tom said not bothering to hold back his smirk, "Was the sex _that bad_?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at Tom, "No, you berk, I just…feel guilty." He explained.

"Let me guess, you shagged her, and then tried to back-peddle?" Tom said laughing, "Merlin, you are worse than me."

Harry glared at Tom, and Hermione caught his attention, "Is she… _alright_?" Hermione asked. She had grown close to Dorea, and no matter what had happened, she didn't want to see her get hurt.

"Well, she's right pissed off at me at the moment. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I just…" Harry trailed off, and Tom interrupted.

"You were horny. It's not a crime, Jones." Tom said flatly, and Hermione turned her glare on Tom and slapped him on the arm.

"Ouch! You're always hitting me." He whined rubbing his arm.

"You deserve it!" she said laughing at Tom and turned her attention back to Harry, "Maybe I should go talk to her?"

Harry nodded, looking away, "Tell her I'm sorry."

Hermione nodded, and stood, making her way back to the Girl's dormitory. She knew the only way to make Dorea understand was to tell her the truth.

~~{0}~~

She knocked on the girl's dormitory door, before opening it softly and stepping inside.

"Dorea? It's Hermione…" she said and saw that the girl was lying in her bed, sobbing into her pillow.

"I don't want to talk to him." Dorea mumbled into her pillow.

Hermione sat gently at the end of her bed, and laid a soothing hand on her back, "I understand. Dorea, there's something I need to tell you…" Hermione started, and she saw the girl stiffen, and finally sit up to face her as she brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"What could you possibly say? He let me believe…and then he treated me just like Effy. I was _so stupid_." She said angrily, shaking her head.

"No, you don't understand…" Hermione said again softly, placing a hand on Dorea's shoulder.

"Then explain it to me." Dorea said flatly, meeting her eyes.

Hermione sighed, "You must know, we couldn't tell anyone about this. The only ones that know are Tom, and Professor Dumbledore. Harry and I are not really brother and sister." Hermione began, and Dorea gaped at her, putting the pieces together in her brain.

"You mean…You and Harry are…" Dorea stammered in shock

"From the future, yes." Hermione said, and Dorea's eyes widened even further.

"I was going to say _involved_ …" Dorea said in shock.

" _Oh_. No, no…" Hermione laughed, "Harry and I are not involved. He's my best friend, to be sure, but nothing more than that." Hermione corrected.

"So you're from the future then? How is that possible?" Dorea asked, still staring at her as if she was looking at a ghost.

"Well, you see, I was given a time-turner to use in my third year to take some extra classes. Oh, don't look at me like that, it was approved by my head of house! Anyway, I continued to use it over the years, and Harry was worried that I was using it too much. We got into an argument, and when he tried to take it from me, we accidentally set it off, and ended up fifty-four years in the past. We went to Professor Dumbledore, and told him what had happened, and he thought it best to keep the information to ourselves so we would disrupt the timeline as little as possible. We made up fake names, and a fake story about being home-schooled, due to Grindelwald's reign of terror, and were re-sorted into new houses." Hermione explained.

"You were never a Slytherin, were you." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, I was a Gryffindor." Hermione said giving her a small smile.

"You were a terrible Slytherin." Dorea laughed, "Merlin's beard, Hermione, The Future."

Hermione nodded, "You must understand, that we never should have been here in the past to begin with, and we could potentially prevent certain people from being born if we get involved with people we shouldn't." Hermione said squeezing Dorea's hand to make her understand.

"So Harry and Effy?" Dorea asked in confusion.

Hermione had to bite back a smirk, "Effy is Harry's Grandmother in the future, but he didn't realize that until I told him, since he never knew her. She is meant to marry Fleamont Potter, and give birth to Harry's father James." Hermione explained.

Dorea's mouth gaped opened and she laughed, "Oh my God, he snogged his grandmother?!" Dorea was doubled over in laughter, "No wonder he needed my help!"

Hermione snickered despite herself, "Yes, truly. The thing is, Harry I think genuinely came to care for you, only he knows that it can't happen either." Hermione said sighing.

Dorea was silent for a moment, and she looked up at Hermione, "What about Tom then? Why is it alright for you to be with him?" Dorea asked suspiciously.

Hermione did not want to tell her about Tom becoming Lord Voldemort, so instead she said, "Tom never married in the future that we experienced, and never had any children. His involvement with me will not prevent anyone from being born that otherwise should be."

"And what about me?" Dorea asked. Hermione hestitated knowing how dangerous it was to tell someone of their own future.

"You will go on to marry, and have children." Hermione said cryptically.

"Who is it?" Dorea asked, giving a hopeful look to Hermione.

"Cygus Black." Hermione admitted against her better judgement, "Please don't ask me anything more."

"Cygnus." Dorea repeated giving a mirthless laugh.

Hermione nodded, watching her intently.

"You know, if you had told me that before the ball, I would have been over the moon. But after everything that's happened…how can I be expected to marry him?" Dorea asked incredulously.

"You must." was the only answer Hermione could give, "He won't remember what took place tonight."

"What do you mean?" Dorea asked her

"Tom _obliviated_ them in the room of requirement after we left. None of them will remember having any secret dealings with Tom at all, or what took place at the ball. He has given them false memories. They will wake up in the Room of Requirement tomorrow morning, with a lot of empty fire whiskey bottles, and believe that they drank too much last night."

"So Cygnus won't remember dancing with me?" Dorea asked furrowing her brows

"He may remember bits and pieces, but not the bad parts." Hermione assured her.

Dorea nodded.

"If it's too much, I can obliviate you too, if you wish me to." Hermione said quietly.

"No. I want to remember you. Cygnus is a prat, but maybe over time, I can forgive him." Dorea said

"I have no doubt you will. After all, I forgave Tom." Hermione smiled.

"That you did" Dorea smirked at her.

"He's coming with us." Hermione admitted, "There's nothing left for him here."

"So you're really leaving?" Dorea asked

"Yes, we have to. We knew we could never stay." Hermione said quietly.

"When?" Dorea asked.

"As soon as possible. Once we get a few things in order." Hermione answered.

"You'll say goodbye, won't you?" Dorea asked, and pulled Hermione into a hug.

"Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Hermione smiled and hugged her back.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling

AN: Hi All! As I've mentioned in the AN's from ny other recent fic updates, October has been a rough month for illnesses in my house - my twins started full time daycare at the beginning of October, and since then, they have been constantly sick...but, they are doing better the last few days (finally) and I wanted to take advantage of the respite to update my fics! I hope you are all still with me! Thank you so much for all of you who have favorite, followed, and reviewed, you guys are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and look forward to Tom being in the future! Please let me know your thoughts! xo

* * *

The next morning at breakfast not many students made it down to the Great Hall after the ball the previous night. Hermione was relieved to see that there was still no sign of LeStrange and the others. She took her seat across from Tom and Harry, and for the first time in what seemed like weeks, she felt a weight had been lifted.

"Right, so after breakfast, let;s meet in the library. We can figure out all the details then." Hermione said cryptically as she looked back and forth between Tom and Harry.

"So he's coming then?" Harry asked in surprise.

Tom raised his eyebrow at Harry and smirked, "Yes, didn't Hermione tell you?"

Harry grimaced, "No, it must've slipped her mind." He said glaring at Hermione who had the decency to look sheepish.

"We'll discuss it in the library." She said through gritted teeth towards Harry, as she plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Fine" Harry acquiesced and went back to buttering his toast.

"Well, well, if it isn't the belle of the ball." Tom said just loud enough for Harry to hear as Dorea walked into the Great Hall.

Harry's head rose sharply, and his gaze met hers. To his relief, she gave him a small sad smile and took the seat on the other side of Hermione.

The remainder of breakfast seemed to pass by uneventfully, until Cygnus, Orion, Edmund, Abraxas strolled in, looking exhausted and hungover. Hermione tensed in her seat, but she breathed a sigh of relief when Edmund LeStrage only spared them an uninterested glance and took his seat at the end of the Slytherin table. She let out the breath she had been holding, and met Tom's eyes.

"You have so little faith in my abilities?" Tom said smirking at her, completely unfazed.

"Do you think the others will notice? I mean, you were a part of their clique, and suddenly you're not…I mean, it will look suspicious, won't it?" Hermione whispered

Tom merely rolled his eyes, "Hermione, love, you really are a terrible Slytherin. Unlike Hufflepuffs, Slytherins aren't exactly known for their loyalty. People will assume that we had a difference of opinion, and that we no longer share a common interest. It happens all the time."

Hermione gaped at his casual explanation of Slytherin 'friendships', "That sounds horrid."

"Well, it is what it is." Tom shrugged.

Dorea leaned into Hermione, "Don't listen to him, we're not _all_ like that." She said and winked over the table at Tom.

"Well, you may be the exception. The rest of them however, are only in it when there is something to be gained. I should know." Tom said as he winked at Hermione.

Hermione smirked back at him, "Yes, and that has worked out brilliantly, for you so far, hasn't it?"

Harry snorted and choked on his coffee next to Tom, to which Tom glared, "Shut it, Jones."

Tom then turned back to Hermione giving her a playful grin, "Actually, it has. I have you, and I have no intention of letting you go _ever again_." Tom said giving her a heated gaze.

"Alright, I'm trying to eat here." Harry interrupted pinching the bridge of his nose.

Hermione blushed furiously, as Tom smirked at her over his coffee cup.

Hermione cleared her throat and changed the subject, "Well, since the room of requirement is no longer occupied, I think we should meet there instead. It'll be much more private. Dorea, will you join us?"

Dorea shook her head knowing that this would most likely be her last chance to say goodbye, "Of course."

~~{0}~~

Harry reached the room of requirement first, and paced in front of the door, remembering the room he and Hermione had shared when they had first arrived in 1943. A few moments later, Hermione entered with Tom and Dorea.

"Right, so I'm not sure how much the two of you know…" Harry began until Hermione interrupted.

"They know we are from the future. Tom knows quite a bit more about how things had turned out the first time around, but we have changed so much already, that it's only logical that when we go back, everything will be different." Hermione said looking at the three of them.

Hermione continued, "Harry and I arrived here accidentally using a time turner-"

"-That you shouldn't have been using to begin with", Harry interjected

Hermione silenced him with a glare, "Shut it, Harry. If I hadn't been using it, and we hadn't argued, we never would have ended up in the past. If I'm right, and I believe I am, we will have saved a lot of lives." Hermione said silencing Harry's protest.

"The point is, time-turners can't take you forward in time, only back by their design, however, we think we found a way to do it." Hermione explained.

"How?" Tom asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"A reversal charm. Quite simple really." Hermione said grinning.

"A reversal charm." Tom echoed, "That seems too easy. Are you sure it will work?" Tom asked skeptically.

"I was skeptical too at first, but after studying the equations, and researching the passage of time, I'm quite certain it will." Hermione stated confidently.

"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out." Tom said as he took the time turner from Hermione's hands and studied it intently.

"So when are you going to do it?" Dorea interjected

"Tonight." Harry answered, and he met her gaze with an apologetic look. Dorea nodded, and looked down at her feet.

"I suppose this is goodbye then." She said quietly.

"Not goodbye; more like _see you later_." Harry said grabbing her hand.

" _Much_ later" Tom interjected and Hermione elbowed him, and shot him a glare to keep quiet.

The corner of her lips twitched up in a smile, and a tear managed to escape before she could brush it away.

"Dorea, will you promise to do something for me?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Anything, Harry." Dorea said giving his hand a squeeze.

"Teach your daughters to be as accepting as you are. And if you have a nephew named Sirius, be there for him." Harry told her.

"Cross my heart." She said pulling Harry into a hug. Harry squeezed her back, and then let her go reluctantly.

"Oh, and one more thing-" Hermione interrupted, "Give this letter to Professor Dumbedore after we've gone." She said handing over a sealed envelope that had the professor's name written neatly on the front. Dorea took the envelope and nodded.

"Alright, Harry and Tom, go gather your things. We'll meet back here tonight just after curfew." Hermione ordered. She watched Tom and Harry stand, and then Tom whispered something to Harry, to which Harry shoved him back as Tom laughed. Hermione grinned watching them. She never would have imagined that Harry would one day be able to form a friendship with Tom Riddle, but here it was. The relationship between them was very different than the relationship he had with Ron, but it was a friendship all the same.

~~{0}~~

"Dorea" Hermione whispered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Yeah?" Dorea whispered back

"It's time for me to go…but before I do, I just wanted to say that you've been a great friend to me, and I'll never forget you. We'll see each other again." She said as she leaned in and gave her a hug.

"I'll miss you, Hermione. Be safe." She said as she hugged her back.

Hermione let her go and gave her a watery smile as she wiped a tear from her eyes, "In about an hour, give the letter to Professor Dumbledore, it's important that he gets it." Hermione reminded her, and then crept quietly out of the Slytherin girl's dormitory. Thankfully, Tom and Harry were waiting for her in the common room, with the map already open.

"We shouldn't run into anyone if we go right now." Harry whispered pointing to the map.

Hermione and Tom both nodded and they followed Harry out into the Dungeon hall. Aside from having to quickly duck into an empty alcove when one of the prefects decided to take a detour on their patrol, they made it to the Room of requirement without incident. Once inside, Hermione set to work casting the reversal charm on the Time turner.

"Theoretically, all we need to do, is change the setting to decades and give the time turner five and one-quarter turns, and then change the setting to months and give it two turns. That should send us back to when we disappeared. We can use the map once we arrive to watch ourselves disappear from the common room, signaling that we've gone to the past, then we can make our way down." Hermione explained.

"Wait a minute, what about Tom? We can't just hide him in the Gryffindor common room." Harry said.

"Hold on, no one said anything about having to be a bloody Gryffindor." Tom held up his hand in protest.

Hermione laughed, "No, you're right, Harry, we have to go straight to the Headmaster's office when we arrive. We'll need to tell him everything. If all goes according to plan, he should be expecting us."

"Alright. On three then?" Harry said

Hermione nodded and quickly adjusted the settings on the time turner, and wrapped the chain around the three of them.

"One, two, three…now!" Harry said as Hermione spun the small gold rings, and then grasped Tom and Harry's hands as she held her breath. The room began to spin violently before they all lost consciousness.

~~{0}~~

Hermione awoke on her back beside Tom, with Harry on her other side.

It was Harry who sat up first, "Did it work?" he asked rubbing his head trying to stop the pounding headache that was forming behind his eyes.

Tom groaned, "I don't know, but I think I'm going to be sick." Tom said and he rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he tried to make the room stop spinning.

Hermione lifted her arm and pulled her wand from her beaded bag and summoned 3 vials of pain relief potion that she had put in there just for this purpose. She quickly swallowed hers and sat up, handing each of them a vial.

"You're a goddess." Tom said as he quickly drank the contents and sighed with relief as he felt the pain in his head ebb away and the spinning stop.

"Not so, just highly logical is all." Hermione shrugged grinning down at Tom. She stood and moved over to the table by the fireplace, and closed her eyes wishing she had a current edition of the Daily Prophet. When it appeared before her on the table, she snatched it up quickly and looked at the date, letting out the breath she'd been holding.

"It worked! We're home!" She cried showing Harry the date on the Daily Prophet. It was the same day they had disappeared, September 15, 1996. Harry reached for the map in his back pocket, and pulled it out.

"There we are, in the common room." Hermione said pointing to their names on the map, "When our names disappear, we should go. The Headmaster is there in his office. As long as Dorea gave him my letter, he should be expecting us." Hermione whispered as they all stared down at the map.

"They're disappearing, look!" Harry pointed as their names written in ink began to fade on the map, leaving behind an empty Gryffindor common room.

"Right, let's go." Hermione said as she grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him along behind her. Harry used the map once again to make sure they could get to the Headmaster's office without being seen. Just as they reached the Gargoyle's steps, the stairs began to move, bringing the three of them to the Headmaster's office. The door at the top of the stairs opened before Hermione could raise her hand to knock, and she let out a relieved breath, and whispered, ' _thank you, Dorea_ ' before she stepped inside with Harry, pulling Tom in behind her.

"Punctual as always, Miss Granger." The Headmaster said as he gestured for them to take a seat.

Hermione nodded and took her seat, and Tom and Harry followed suit.

"It seems that you three have a great deal of explaining to do." The headmaster said looking over his half-moon spectacles at the three of them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Thank you all so much for the continued love of this fic! We're in the future now, woohoo! Thank you to all of you who took the time to review the last chapter: GanjiaQueen91, YDream08, Belieber Twihard, Pianomouse, Negativecreep91, NicoruNS, ndavis77, and Lady Kaliska! Kisses to you all!**

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"So you see Headmaster, everything we did, we did for the _greater good_." Hermione said, playing on what she knew to be his soft spot.

Headmaster Dumbledore looked at the three of them thoughtfully over his half-moon spectacles, running his fingers absently along his silvery white beard. His watery blue gaze fell on Tom, and Tom shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Be that as it may, Miss Granger, the three of you have once again caused quite a conundrum," He said when Hermione opened her mouth to interrupt, he held up his hand silence her, "Luckily, I was able to come up with quite a convincing cover story to not only explain your rather abrupt departure from Hogwarts in 1943, but Mister Riddle's as well. Now, if what you say is true, then it is a small price to pay on behalf of…what was it you said? Ah yes; the _greater good_. The only question that remains is, what do we do with _you?_ " He said leveling his gaze as Tom as he folded his hands in front of him on the desk.

"Sir, will I be permitted to finish my education at Hogwarts?" Tom asked, not having truly thought about what would happen once he arrived in the future.

"Of course, Tom," The Headmaster said, and Tom seemed to visibly relax, until the Headmaster continued, "I have no intention of letting you out of my sight."

Tom scowled.

"The _official_ story, is that you are a transfer student from Durmstrang. I believe I can convince Headmaster Karkaroff to sign the appropriate paperwork for the Ministry. You will of course have to be re-sorted." The Headmaster explained.

Tom gaped at the Headmaster.

Hermione bit back a smirk at the look of horror on Tom's face.

"But, before we do that, I believe it would be wise to adopt a change of surname, since there may be those from your past who would recognize it." The Headmaster said giving Tom a pointed look.

Harry snorted, "How about Jones?"

Tom glared at Harry, before answering the Headmaster, "Actually, Headmaster, I'd prefer to use my mother's maiden name, if that is alright?"

"Thomas Marvolo Gaunt. Yes, I think that will do." The Headmaster then stood and made his way over to a shelf and lifted the sorting hat, gesturing to a stool, "Now, Tom, if you would?"

Tom shot Hermione a nervous look, and she saw his Adam's apple bob in his throat as he stood to make his way over to the stool.

 _Not Gryffindor, Not Gryffindor, Not Gryffindor…_

As the sorting hat made contact with Tom's head, it sprang to life, the voice whispering quietly in Tom's ear:

 _Interesting, I've sorted you before, the ancestor of a founder! How extraordinary. You are ambitious I see, quite brave and resourceful too, but what is this? Not disloyal, no, not anymore…better be Gryffindor!_

" _What?!_ " Tom shouted ripping the hat from his head in shock

Harry laughed loudly, and Hermione had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the horrified look on Tom's face.

The headmaster's blue eyes twinkled as he watched Tom's uniform colors change from Green and Silver to Burgundy and Gold.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Tom said holding up his tie, giving the Headmaster a pleading look.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Mister Gaunt." The Headmaster smiled at Tom, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously as he walked the three of them to his office door.

"You'll find a trunk with the current school uniforms has already been delivered to your dorm, along with your class schedule. Miss Granger and Mister Potter can show you to your common room." The headmaster said kindly.

"Yes, Headmaster" Tom said in a barely restrained clipped tone.

"Oh, there's one more thing." The headmaster said as he looked pointedly between Harry and Hermione, "I will be writing to both your parents, and the three of you will report to detention with Professor Snape tomorrow evening after dinner."

Harry paled, "Parents? Did you say you are writing to my _parents_ , Professor?"

The Headmaster raised his eyebrows at Harry in surprise, "Yes, Mister Potter. I expect your mother and father will not be pleased by your reckless behavior."

Harry laughed and looked at Hermione, "My parents! Did you hear that Hermione! He's writing to my parents!"

The Headmaster gave Harry a worried look and continued, "Yes, well, you three should return to your dormitory, you'll not be excused from classes tomorrow."

Hermione grabbed Harry and Tom and gave the Headmaster a grateful smile, "Thank you for everything, Professor, we'll be off to bed then." She said before pulling them out of the Headmaster's office.

~~{0}~~

"Well, this is unaccaptable." Tom said as he looked down at his tie, wrinkling his nose distaste.

"Well, it could be worse." Hermione said trying to cheer him up, knowing that he was probably feeling very out of his element.

"Worse? Hermione, how could it be any worse? This is a bloody _disgrace_." Tom whined.

Hermione sniggered, "Yes, Tom, it _could_ be worse. You could have ended up in Hufflepuff."

He shot her a glare, and she bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

"Ravenclaw, I could have tolerated, but _Gryffindor_?" Tom scoffed.

"Well, you're one of us now, so you may as well get used to it." Hermione sighed, "Merlin, you're worse than Malfoy."

Tom snorted, "Are you seriously comparing me to Abraxas?"

"Not that Malfoy, I meant Draco…Abraxas' Grandson." Hermione said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Merlin this is strange." Tom said looking around the common room.

"Now you know what it was like for us in 1943. It'll take some time, but you'll get used to it." She said pulling him in for a kiss.

He kissed her back, reluctantly letting her go when Harry cleared his throat, waiting to take him up to the boy's dorm for the night.

~~{0}~~

The next morning, Harry slid into the seat across from Hermione rubbing his eyes and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Have you gained any new memories yet?" he asked quietly as he watched her flip through the Daily Prophet.

"A few, last night while I was sleeping. What about you?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I dreamt about my parents. It's so strange because even though it felt like a dream, I know they were memories. I can still remember what it was like living without them, but now, it's as if they never left." Harry said as he took a bite out of a muffin.

"I'm happy for you, Harry. You're finally getting the life you always deserved." She said as her eyes swept the room, "Hey, have you seen Tom this morning?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, yeah, he left early to meet Dumbledore. Something about having to be introduced." Harry said stifling a yawn.

"Who's being introduced?" Ron asked as he slipped into the open seat beside Hermione and reached over her to grab a banana out of the fruit bowl.

Hermione flashed Harry a look, "Oh, there's a new transfer student from Durmstrang."

"Huh, why'd he wait until sixth year to transfer?" Ron asked shoving half the banana in his mouth.

"Oh….um…" Hermione stammered, causing Ron to give her a strange look.

"He's Hermione's boyfriend." Harry blurted causing Hermione to gape at him.

Ron snorted, "Funny, Harry."

Hermione flushed a shade of crimson that may or may not have even existed yet. She hadn't thought about how to explain her seemingly sudden relationship to Ron.

"We sort of …met over the summer." Hermione began hesitantly, biting her lip nervously as she met Ron's eyes. She was aware that Ron had always had a sort of crush on her, even though he had never admitted it or acted on his feelings. The scowl that was presently adorning his face, and the redness of his ears told her that this news was not exactly welcome.

"And so what? He decided to switch schools to be with _you_?" Ron snorted in derision, as if she was not worthy of such a commitment. He may as well have slapped her, for the sting the comment left in its wake.

"Am I interrupting something?" Tom asked hesitantly as he looked between Ron and Hermione, and noticed her tense posture. He let his hand fall to her shoulder, and he felt her relax a bit at his touch.

"First Krum, and now you. At the rate Hermione's going, I expect her name will be carved into one of the lavatory doors over at Durmstrang before the end of the semester." Ron snapped viciously.

Tom's arm shot out so fast and grabbed Ron by the front of his robes, nearly pulling him across the table, bringing his face close to his own. When he spoke, his voice was deadly, "If you speak of Hermione in that manner again, I'll rip out your tongue."

Ron's blue eyes widened as he met Tom's angry gaze as Tom continued, "Now, I believe you were just about to apologize."

Ron gasped, and managed to croak out "I'm sorry" to Hermione just as Tom shoved him away from him, and he fell back into his seat.

Hermione stood motionless, her eyes darting between Ron, Harry, and Tom. Ron pushed away from the table abruptly and stalked off angrily, not sparing a glance back in their direction.

"Well, that went well." Harry said sarcastically as he gestured for Tom to take a seat.

"I should talk to him." Hermione sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Harry shook his head, "Give it a day. He needs time to cool down. Wounded pride, and all that." Harry suggested.

Hermione nodded, and shot a glare at Tom, "You could have been a little more patient with him."

Tom scoffed, "I'll not suffer his idiocy because you feel sorry for him, love."

Harry mercifully interjected, "I'll talk to him." earning a grateful look from Hermione and an eyeroll from Tom.

Hermione quickly changed the subject, "So what class do you have first?" pouring Tom and herself a cup of coffee.

Tom pulled his course schedule from his bag, "Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Professor Snape."

Harry sniggered.

Tom narrowed his eyes at him, "Something funny, Potter?"

Harry caught Hermione's eye, "Nothing at all, Tom."

~~{0}~~

When Hermione slipped into the seat beside Tom in the Transfiguration classroom, the look on his face was murderous.

"That man is _abhorrent_." Tom snapped.

Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing, knowing perfectly well he was talking about Professor Snape.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Hermione asked, knowing what was coming.

"That man had the _nerve_ to call me an _insufferable_ _know it all_ in front of the entire class, for having the audacity to actually answer one of his questions!" Tom snapped angrily, "I mean, why ask a question if you don't want anyone to actually answer it?"

Hermione sniggered.

"It's not funny, Hermione, he should be reported!" Tom spat, which made her laugh even harder at the irony of the situation. If only Professor Snape knew who he was now in a position of authority over!

When Hermione finally got her laughter under control, she wrote on the piece of parchment in front of her so that he could see it.

 _Don't take it personally, he did the same thing to me my first year._

His anger receded to an adorable pout, as he focused on the text book that sat in front of him. Professor McGonagall did a double take when she entered the room, seeing Tom seated next to Hermione. He had been introduced at breakfast, but she hadn't gotten a clear view of him until now.

"Mister Gaunt?" She asked, and Tom looked up at her politely, recognizing his former classmate.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Stay after class a moment if you would? I should like to assess what material you have previously covered at Durmstrang." She said giving him a pointed look.

Tom nodded, and she continued the lesson.

As class ended, and the students were filing out, Hermione squeezed his hand and told him she would wait outside for him. He made his way towards his Professor's desk, and was met with her piercing gaze.

"How?" she snapped, looking up at him expectantly.

"Pardon?" he asked, pretending he had no idea what she was talking about.

She sighed, "You can drop the act, I know it's you, Riddle. How did you manage to do it?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.

She had been a year ahead of him, and had always been smart as a whip; he supposed that was why she had long ago been named Head Girl.

"Minerva, always a pleasure. You look as if you haven't aged a day." He said giving her a Cheshire cat-like grin.

She scowled, raising an eyebrow at him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

He cleared his throat, remembering that she was actually one of his professor's now.

"Time turner." He answered, doing his best to look contrite.

"Ah. I knew Miss Granger and Mister Potter looked familiar; once I saw you, it all clicked into place. I assume the Headmaster is aware of this deception?" she asked in clipped tones.

"Yes, he found my being re-sorted into Gryffindor _quite_ amusing." Tom frowned.

The corner of the Professor's lips twitched at the thought of the prince of Slytherin being sorted into Gryffindor.

"And how is that working out for you? I am after all, your Head of House now." She said quirking an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"It's not altogether terrible." He admitted, sighing dramatically.

"Good. I expect you know that if you have any problems, you can come to me." She said giving him a small knowing smile.

He nodded, the corner of his lips lifting into smirk, "Indeed, I do, Minerva."

"That's _Professor_ , to you, Tom." She chuckled and waved him off.

"Of course, _Professor._ " He said grinning and headed out of the classroom to meet Hermione.

* * *

 **LOL! I had to make Professor Snape be a douche to Tom...it's Karma, not to mention that Tom was sorted into Gryffindor. So what do you all think?! Do you like this chapter? We still have more to look forward to... _another_ Halloween Ball, Christmas, and Christmas Hols, which will include Tom visiting the Grangers, and Tom and Hermione both visiting Harry's family *cough*Harry's Grandparents*cough*...should make for some entertaining chapters! Please leave a review! xoxo**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Again, you may have read in my other fic's AN, the reason for the delayed update is that sickness has been pretty much squatting rent-free in my house since the beginning of 2017…no joke. Just this year, I have had FOUR nasty colds, THREE ear infections, TWO bouts of the stomach bug, Pneumonia, a sinus infection, and a partridge in a fucking pear tree. ANYWAY…I am back! I hope you enjoy this update and start getting some insight to how the future has changed since the trio has arrived! THANK YOU all to those who took the time to review, follow, and favorite this fic! xoxo**

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"Did she suspect anything?" Hermione asked Tom as he emerged from the Transfiguration classroom.

"Of course she did. She knows it's me." Tom answered as the corner of his lips twitched.

Hermione paled.

"Not to worry, though I don't expect that you'll be granted time-turner privileges anytime soon."

Hermione snorted, "Fortunately I've no desire to ever touch one of those again."

As they rounded the corner, Hermione collided with a solid body, and would have fallen on her behind if not for Tom's quick reflexes.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood." Draco sneered down at her before his eyes shifted over to Tom with a look of disgust.

Tom locked eyes with the lanky blond and smirked. _So this was Abraxas' grandson_. He effortlessly slipped into the boy's mind, sifting through his thoughts and watched a particularly graphic fantasy the boy had been having involving none other than _his_ girlfriend.

 _Well, that simply wouldn't do._

"Draco, is it?" he said trying to keep his voice amicable.

Draco nodded and sneered at Tom.

"Well, Draco, it seems we have a bit of a problem." Tom said crossing his arms over his chest, "You see, I don't appreciate the lewd thoughts you've been having about my girlfriend. Tsk, tsk…"

Draco's eyes widened and he shifted his gaze nervously to his cronies Crabbe and Goyle before scoffing loudly, "That's a laugh, like I would ever be interested in a Mudblood!"

Tom smirked at Draco knowingly, as he leaned towards him close enough to whisper just loud enough for Draco to hear, "If you even so much as _look_ at her, I'll make sure the Malfoy line ends with you."

Draco blinked at Tom and backed away quickly, feeling the strong pulse of magic that rolled off of him, pricking at his skin painfully before Tom stepped back with a polite smile on his face.

"Now, I do believe we understand each other." Tom said as he slipped an arm casually around Hermione's waist.

The look on her face was almost comical, as her mouth gaped open, and her eyes darted from Tom to Draco and back again, silently watching the exchange.

Draco nodded quickly, and strode past them, Crabbe and Goyle following after him quickly.

"What the hell was that about?" Hermione asked in disbelief, falling step with Tom as he led her back towards the Gryffindor common room.

"It seems that Draco, despite his foul mouth, has a bit of a _thing_ for you." Tom snorted.

Hermione's mouth dropped open in surprise. Her parents used to tell her that boys only teased her because they liked her, but she was pretty certain after all the years spent in Malfoy's company that his hatred was just that.

"How do you know that?" she asked forcing him to stop and look at her.

Tom sighed, "Hermione, have you forgotten that I am quite skilled at Legillimancy?"

 _Oh_.

Before she could ask the next question, he held up a hand to stop her, "And no, I'm _not_ going to tell you what it was that cockroach was thinking about."

She grimaced and nodded. Honestly, she didn't really want to know, the thought of Malfoy touching her in any way was utterly repulsive.

"Tell you what; after detention tonight, I'll borrow Harry's cloak and map, and you can _show me_ in the prefect's bath." Hermione said with a smirk.

The corner of Tom's lips curled into a smirk, "I'm starting to think that you could've been a Slytherin after all…"

 **oOo0oOo**

"Who's side are you on, mate?" Ron spat angrily after seeing Hermione disappear through the common room door with as she hid the Marauder's map beneath her cloak.

"What are you on about?" Harry asked in confusion, his eyes meeting the angry scowl on Ron's face.

"I can't believe you're helping _him_ ; you're supposed to be my best friend! He'll turn her against us, Harry…against _me_." Ron shot back, pacing angrily in front of the couch Harry was currently sitting on.

"Do you hear yourself? He's not the problem, Ron, it's _you_. For six years, Hermione has been waiting for you to do something, _anything_ , and now that she's gotten tired of waiting and moved on, you're putting this on her?" Harry said shaking his head in disbelief, "You're a right git sometimes, you know that?"

"She's desperate, Harry! She's doing this on purpose to get back at me, can't you see that?" Ron shouted

Harry pinched the bridge of this nose in exasperation and took a deep breath before he said something he would regret.

"Look, I get that you're upset, but it's her choice mate. You just need to respect that." Harry said as calmly as he could to the still fired up red-head.

"Well, it seems she's made it already, hasn't she. Don't expect me to be there waiting to pick up the pieces when he dumps her." Ron snarled and stormed from the room.

Harry sighed and smoothed his hands over his face as he felt the couch dip beside him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a melodic voice next to him said as he cracked open an eye met the amused gaze of an attractive dark haired witch.

"Oh…er…just trying to smooth ruffled feathers is all." Harry answered taken aback by how beautiful she was. Why had he never noticed her before?

"Those two were all wrong for each other, any idiot could see that." She giggled, and to Harry, it sounded like the tinkling of bells.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked looking at her in wonder.

She slapped his arm playfully and laughed again, "Harry James Potter, cut the crap; I've only been your girlfriend for the last two years, you prat!"

Harry laughed nervously, and paled slightly.

He was saved from having to comment when Ginny poked her head through the portrait hole and called, "Cassie! Are you coming or not?"

She rolled her eyes and muttered that she'd be right there, and then leaned over to Harry and kissed him unceremoniously on the mouth.

As she pulled back from him, she must've noticed the strange expression on his face, and she asked quietly, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Not trusting himself to speak, he just nodded and gave her a tight smile.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then." she said before she stood and headed over to the portrait hole to meet Ginny.

 _What the bloody hell?_

His memories of the new timeline were still slowly filtering in ever since they'd returned, but this was the first he was learning that he had a _girlfriend_ for the last two years and apparently she was _hot_ …

Deciding that he didn't want any more surprises that evening, he stood and made his way to the dormitories to get some sleep; with any luck, he'd dream about her… _Cassie_.

 **oOo0oOo**

The next morning at breakfast, Tom and Hermione slipped into the seats across from Harry and Ron, when Ron abruptly stood and grabbed his tray without a word, and stalked off.

"He's still angry." Hermione sighed and flicked her gaze towards Harry.

"You know how he is. Everything is about him. I tried to talk to him last night, but it didn't do much good. Either he'll get over himself eventually, like back in fourth year, or he won't." Harry said with a shrug.

Before Hermione could respond, a beautiful dark haired girl dropped into the seat beside Harry kissing him quickly on the cheek and muttering an apology for running late because of insufferable roommates, before she looked up quickly at Hermione with a blush and offered, "Not you, of course."

Hermione smiled politely and glanced at Harry and mouthed, "Who's that?!" while the girl was otherwise occupied filling her plate. She tried not to laugh when Harry give a small shrug.

"Cassie, I don't believe you've been introduced to Tom yet." Harry said politely, noticing the sly smirk on Hermione's face as he did so.

Tom stood and gave her a dazzling smile as he held out a hand towards her, "Tom Ri- er… _Gaunt_. Tom Gaunt. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Cassie glanced towards Hermione knowingly as if to say, _way to go!_ while she shook his hand and introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Tom, Cassiopeia Black, though everyone calls me Cassie."

Tom didn't miss the look of shock in Harry's eyes when he heard her last name and tried to see if he could glean anything else without sounding suspicious.

"Black…You aren't related to-" Tom began before Cassie answered

"Sirius Black. He's my father." Cassie answered and turned sharply when Harry choked on his pumpkin juice.

"Harry? Are you alright?" she asked in a tone of concern, but he waved her off and gasped, "wrong tube."

Cassie chuckled and turned her attention back to Tom, "Do you know my father's family then?" She asked.

"Of course the Black family is quite well known." Tom answered with a smirk and added, "As are the Potter's."

"Yes, well, I imagine even if Harry and I _despised_ each other, we would still end up married, one way or another. Our fathers _are_ best friends, after all." She chuckled as Harry blushed and choked again on his juice.

"Speaking of which, Harry, my grandfather is having Christmas dinner at Grimmauld place and he expects you to attend as my _intended_." Cassie added with a roll of her eyes.

Grandfather… _Orion_.

The thought of Orion manhandling Hermione surfaced in his mind and he had to repress an angry shudder.

"Of course, father says he would prefer not to go, but Aunt Dorea will be there and he adores her too much to say no. "Cassie added quickly.

This time it was Hermione that choked on her pumpkin juice.

"Dorea Black?" Hermione repeated, knowing very well that Dorea had grown up to marry Cygnus.

"Yes, despite my aunt Bellatrix being well… _aunt Bella_ ," Cassie said with a look of distaste, "Great Aunt Dorea has always been very good to my mother and I."

Hermione didn't need to be told that Bellatrix would still grow up to be a blood purist, most likely under the influence of her father, which would only be reinforced by her marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Your mother?" Hermione repeated curiously, looking back and forth between Cassie and Harry.

"Yes, didn't Harry ever tell you? I had assumed he had since you're a…well…" Cassie bit her lip nervously.

"Since I'm a _what_ , exactly?" Hermione asked defensively, noting Cassie's eyes widen in response.

"Oh no, I didn't mean…Look, my mother is a muggleborn. I didn't mean to imply…"

Tom raised an eyebrow at that, "And you're still invited to family dinners, then, are you?"

Hermione whacked Tom on the arm, and turned towards Cassie, "Don't listen to him. I know you didn't mean anything by it, I'm sure you know first-hand the sort of prejudice muggleborns are subjected to, and I can only imagine how hard it must be growing up in a family that holds such views."

"He's not wrong; Aunt Andromeda was disinherited for marrying a muggle. I'm certain that uncle Regulus' death is the only reason father wasn't given the same treatment. Technically, he was the only son left to carry on the Black name; pity his only child was a daughter." Cassie chuckled bitterly, and Harry smoothed his hand over her back comfortingly.

"Well, it's their loss." Hermione said honestly as she gasped Cassie's hand with sincerity.

Cassie nodded, giving Hermione a small smile, "Thanks Hermione."

"Don't mention it." She said with a wink and leaned into Tom's side.

"As much as I hate to interrupt such a tender moment, you have class with Snape in five minutes." Tom said as he tossed a grape at Harry.

Tom chuckled when Harry thumped his forehead on the table with a groan.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling**

 **AN: Sorry for taking so long! I have way too many WIP fics…lol. I promise none of them will be abandoned though! They will all be completed eventually! Bear with me as I try to update some of these bad Larry's. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I snickered a bit writing it ;p**

* * *

"Where is Hermione?" Tom asked Harry as he trudged up the staircase towards the astronomy tower.

Harry chuckled, "She dropped this class after third year. Didn't she tell you?"

Tom frowned, surprised that Hermione would ever decide to _drop_ a class, "No, she didn't mention it. Why did she drop it?"

"She thinks divination is a load of rubbish." Harry said with a grin, "I'm only still taking it because I need the credit."

Tom followed Harry over to the small round tea tables that had a large crystal ball sitting in the center, and took his seat.

"How could anyone not want to know the future? Some seers have been known to make shockingly accurate predictions, and I'm sure Hogwarts wouldn't have hired a fraud." Tom asked bewildered as he set down his bag beside his chair.

Harry snorted, "Sure, mate."

A few minutes later, a thin woman with a frizzy mass of hair and large round glasses entered the room with a dramatic sigh, one hand clutching the front of her patch-work dress.

"I feel a dark presence among us…it's hovering… _waiting_ …I fear that one of you in this room will meet a most terrible fate!"

Harry leaned towards Tom and whispered, "She says this every week. Law of averages says that one of these times, she'll be right" Harry snickered.

Suddenly the insect-looking woman swung her gaze around to the source of the snickering, and pointed directly at Tom.

"You…boy, what is your name?"

Tom looked around, noticing all the students were now focused on him, and said "Uh…it's Tom."

The professor then closed her eyes and placed her hands on her temples as if she were concentrating very hard.

"Oh… _the spirits_ …the spirits say…it's not you."

Tom raised an eyebrow at her odd proclamation, and before he could say anything, she swung towards Harry.

 _Of course._

"Oh, my dear boy…Mister Potter, I'm afraid I see-" she began before Harry sighed and interrupted.

"Let me guess, the grim?" He offered doing his best to try and keep a straight face.

"Oh yes! I'm afraid you'll die a most horrible death!"

"Yes, so you've said." Harry sighed.

The professor looked stunned for a moment, "Have I?"

Harry was confused for a moment until he realized she had told him this in the _other_ timeline. The only problem was, Voldemort was now sitting right next to him, so what now?

"Maybe I was mistaken." Harry said quickly trying to back-peddle.

"Or maybe you have the gift of sight!" The professor said excitedly, while Harry thumped his forehead against the table.

 **oOo0oOo**

"That woman is _insane_. Why would Dumbledore ever hire that fraud? She's making a mockery of the art of divination!" Tom snapped as he walked beside Hermione to the Great Hall.

"While I agree that the woman is a fraud, I respectfully disagree that Divination could be called an art. It's rubbish, Tom." Hermione chuckled.

"She's convinced herself that not only is Harry going to meet some horrible end, but now she thinks he has _the sight_." He said mocking her exaggerated hand gestures.

"Speaking of Harry, where is he?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"She kept him after class to talk about his new found abilities." Tom answered rolling his eyes.

Hermione snorted, "The day Harry makes a real prediction is the day I join the quiddich team."

As they reached the Great Hall, they saw Cassie already seated and waving them over.

"Where's Harry?" she asked as Hermione and Tom slipped into the seats opposite her.

"Still in the astronomy tower with Trelawney. She's convinced herself he's a seer now." Tom said as he grabbed a sandwich off the platter and handed one to Hermione.

Cassie laughed, "Well, at least he'll get a passing grade now."

The smile on Hermione's face fell when she noticed the copy of the Daily Prophet. She quickly grabbed it, and read the front page.

 _ **Muggleborn Attacks on the Rise**_

 _ **Attacks on Muggleborn witches and wizards are on the rise as the Knights Elite continue to terrorize the wizarding community. The so called 'Knights' are rumored to be led by a dark wizard calling himself "The Reaper".**_

Hermione elbowed Tom and shoved the paper in front of him.

"Knights…" Hermione whispered, "You don't think it could be…" she trailed off, not wanting to say too much in front of Cassie.

Tom's jaw clenched. It was them, he was sure of it. When he had modified their memories in the room of requirement that night fifty years ago, he had removed all memory of their association with Tom Riddle, though he hadn't changed their _beliefs_. They would still have borne a deep hatred towards any wizard or witch they felt wasn't worthy of their magic; muggleborns in particular.

"It's Lestrange. I'm sure of it." Tom spat.

"Wait…Lestrange? As in _Aunt Bella_?" Cassie asked in confusion, looking between Hermione and Tom, "She's a bigot, no doubt, but _a murderer_?"

Hermione frowned. "Not your aunt…Her father in law, Edmund Lestrange, though it's highly likely she's involved."

"How could you possibly _know_ that?" Cassie asked bewildered.

"Harry." Tom said quickly, using Harry's new found status as a seer to their advantage, "He had…he had a vision about this." Tom said, his eyes flicking towards Hermione silently begging her to agree with his story.

"Oh, come off it, Harry's about as much of a seer as I am a pureblood." Cassie snorted.

"No, it's true…he did tell me and Tom about a dream he had the other night…and it fits." Hermione said nodding towards Tom.

Just then, Harry approached the table with a dramatic sigh and slipped into his seat beside Cassie.

"Harry, these two are telling me you are a seer, and that you had some dream the other night about the muggleborn attacks?" Cassie said crossing her arms over her chest, and raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

Hermione kicked Harry's kneecap hard under the table and he let out a small grunt of pain, as he caught her eye.

"Oh…yeah. I thought it was just some weird dream, but maybe there is more to it." He said looking back and forth between Hermione, Tom and Cassie.

Hermione slid the newspaper across the table towards Harry, and she saw the blood drain from his face as he read the front page.

"Bloody Hell."

 **oOo0oOo**

"We need to go to Dumbledore. He needs to know!" Hermione argued.

"And tell him what, exactly? That I used to get up to no good, and practice dark magic with those arseholes? He'll throw me out of here, Hermione!" Tom shouted.

"Tom, I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm sure he already knew what you were up to…That's probably why you weren't exactly his favorite student." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"She's got a point, mate." Harry interjected.

"If the Aurors haven't been able to figure out it, what makes you think he'd believe a bunch of kids?" Tom argued.

Hermione scoffed, "Because, we're time travelers! We _know_ things. Dumbledore knows that we traveled. He'll believe us." Hermione said placing her hands on her hips, not backing down from Tom.

"Tom, this is your chance to change his opinion of you; despite what you've done in the past, you have the chance to be the hero. You can stop this." Harry argued.

Tom stilled, and seemed to contemplate his words.

"If we do this, we do it together." Tom said finally, seeming to come to a decision.

Hermione smiled and took his hand, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

 **oOo0oOo**

"So you see Headmaster, it _has_ to be them." Hermione said as she stood beside Tom and Harry in front of the Headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore looked suddenly older than his one-hundred and fifty years, as he smoothed the strands of his grey beard, deep in thought.

"And you say you held meetings? Here in the castle?" Dumbledore said seeming disturbed by this information.

"Yes. I did. At first, they were just in the Slytherin common room late at night after most of the students had gone to bed, but then later, the room of requirement." Tom answered doing his best to look contrite, though he was laying it on thicker than necessary to gain the Headmaster's trust.

"I see. And you believe it is these same individuals who continued this practice, despite your memory modification?" The headmaster said steepling his fingers in front of him on the desk.

"It has to be; I called them my 'Knights'. Somehow, despite my removal of their memories, Lestrange must have remembered this. He must have continued the meetings, calling themselves 'The Knights Elite'. They were all purebloods, you see." Tom answered with a frown.

The headmaster sighed, "It takes quite a bit of bravery, Tom, to own up to past mistakes, but even more to try and correct them. If you've ever questioned whether you truly belong in Gryffindor house, let your actions today be your answer.

Hermione squeezed Tom's hand and gave him a small smile.

"I think it may be prudent, due to your knowledge of the alternate timeline, that the three of you join the Order." The headmaster said as is gaze swept over the three students standing before his desk.

"The Order of the _Phoenix_?" Harry asked, causing the Headmaster to look at him in confusion.

"Heaven's no, Mister Potter, The Order of the Puffskein." The headmaster said seriously.

Hermione snorted.

"Something funny, Miss Granger?" The headmaster asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She bit her cheek to keep from laughing, "No, nothing at all Headmaster."

The Headmaster scowled briefly before adding, "Phoenix. Rolls off the tongue much better than Puffskein. I wish I had thought of that."

Fawkes squawked indignantly and shook his head.


End file.
